


house built on memories

by sanguinedawns



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, it's really cheesy...romantics like awful., madara is sentient you'll get why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:57:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 51,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23486422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanguinedawns/pseuds/sanguinedawns
Summary: Sasuke briefly wishes that Naruto would look back at him too, see him too, perhaps he wants to be seen by him in a different light too.Look at me, Sasuke chances to think.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 108
Kudos: 431





	1. i.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moonwatcher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonwatcher/gifts).



> hi fellow quarantine-ridden friends. here is a fic i wrote. usually I have long notes and stuff but idk what to say here except hope you enjoy. sns are very romantic in this fic that's all.    
>  also, if you come to hate a certain character that's fine too this fic was interesting to say the least. (not sns tho if u have an issue w/ them take a hike).   
>  as always, k here is the small town fic of your dreams.

Sasuke flips the indicator to take a slow left into the parking lot, rain is picking up outside the window, droplets spitting on the glass where his windows are pulled up. He turns off the ignition and waits. For the past week, the weather had been gearing for the big storm, given his shit luck, of course, it gets worse on the day he’s supposed to drive up to Konoha. Sasuke cranks up the heat in his accord the windscreen wipers squeaking as the rubber creates friction moving across the glass. He taps his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.

There is a knock on his door, Sasuke tamps down on the button to roll down the window.

“Are you sure you want to go up there this weekend? They said the storm won’t let up until Sunday morning?”

Sasuke takes the key from Itachi, leaning away from where the rain droplets are falling, “Yeah, might as well get this over with.”

“You really don’t want me to come along?” Itachi’s glasses are fogging up due to the mist the rain carries, the hood of his rain jacket falling over his forehead. “I told you, I don’t mind.”  
  


Turning the ignition on, he secures his hold around the steering once again, the keys now safely resting in the glove compartment, “This doesn’t have anything to do with you. I’ll be back by the end of next week, at the latest.”

“Alright, drive safe.”

Sasuke gets his phone from the dashboard and plugs the aux cable into it, his right-hand scrolls through the map’s app pulling up his previous route directions—he props the phone into its holder. A deep sigh pulls his lips apart, the sky bleeding grey and lashing buckets of shower, relentless and unkind. Sasuke watches the turn signal change to green, the inside of his car is too quiet, so he fiddles with the radio and puts on a folk station. A few contemporary songs come up, then a few older ones, and then back to new.

The traffic is slow-moving, he’s got one foot on the brake pedal for at least an hour—in intermittent intervals, of course, but the whole shebang is annoying, to say the least. He’s not used to long drives at all, in fact, he’s hardly had to drive past the 30-mile radius from his workplace to his house. His friends insist he takes the phrase homebody to heart; a little too seriously to anyone’s liking. That’s not it, though.

Sasuke doesn’t find the necessity to step out of his routine, he’s done things a certain way all his life. That said he’s not ridiculously stubborn, he’s open to traveling, the opportunity never arose though. There was school first, then college, and then came work. Everything in his life pretty much set out from the get-go.

Outside the scenery blends from the tall concrete buildings, comatose amongst the pulsing life, into rolling fields and a wide-span highway. The cars taking up the road start clearing out as he moves out of the city, the wheels to his car kissing the asphalt dirt that glistened due waterfall beating down ahead of him. Sasuke slows down his car, the headlights turned up to high beam since the sun has started to set beyond the muggy glare of goose-colored clouds that cotton the sky.

The automated voiceover speaking from his phone, telling him how much time is left to arrive at his destination, reminding him what exit to take next. There is still a full hour to go before he’s anywhere close to the next exit. Sasuke left his place around noon and it’s nearing six now.

Reaching behind his seat he blindly grasps for the packet of chips peeking out of his holdall, he stuffs a mouthful but grimaces at the oily residue that now sticks to his fingertips. Popping the compartment in between the driver and passenger seat, he plucks out a napkin, cleaning his fingers.

His phone buzzes, the map of the road disappearing to be replaced by a picture of Sakura, “Hey.”

“You told me you’ll at least tell me before leaving?”

Sasuke chews around the inside of his jaw, shifting forward a bit to peer over the steering wheel, the mist is making it ten times harder to drive in the storm. He replies, “It didn’t come up, Sakura, I need to sell the property before the end of the month but apparently there needs to be some work done before that so I’m getting that out of the way.”

“Why can’t you just tell me these things?”

“Because,” Sasuke seethes, he can’t see shit and this conversation isn’t helping his concentration, “Your incessant nagging is unnecessary. I told you I need to take care of this because it’s time-critical. What’s there to understand?”

“Okay, asshat, I’m just making sure you’re fine. You know? As your best friend. We do that.”

There is a loud crackle of thunder, the road is curving now, and he’s meant to take a left at the approaching exit, “You’re coddling. That’s not being a friend.”

“What’s wrong with a little—”

“I’m not you—” his car thumps against a pothole and grumbles unhappily, a curse flipping out of him, “Shit.”

The car stops altogether once he’s exited onto the main road, off the highway now, “Shit, _shit_.” He tries to start the ignition, but it won’t budge. Another lightning strike sizzles through the charged air.

Sakura’s worried voice flutters through his speakers, the car all too quiet now, “Sas, is everything okay?”

“My car broke down.”

“What?”

Fucking, he unplugs the phone from the cord and puts it to the shell of his ear, “My car broke down. I’m gonna hang up cause I need to figure this shit out.”

“Sasuke, see, I told you one of us should—”

“I’m hanging up now.” He hangs up. Digging his forehead into the center of his staring wheel, he sighs, a knot in his chest twisting in good measure. “Fuck me.”

First, he unbuckles his seatbelt to search if he can find the umbrella, he’s pretty sure he packed it somewhere, it’s buried under a couple of sweaters when he finally locates it. Sasuke zips up his rain jacket and pulls up the hood, stepping out into the unforgiving rain that pelts from the congested sky above. Coming to the front of his car he pops the hood open, his sneakers sweating under the splashes of water, and squints to see what’s wrong with the engine. There aren’t streetlights here, stranded kind of in the middle of nowhere.

He uses the flashlight on his phone to get a better look at what’s wrong, but there seems to be enough radiator fluid so it couldn’t have overheated. Sasuke cranes his neck to check for any miscellaneous damages, “This would happen today of all days.”

He’s evidently distracted by searching why his car stopped that he doesn’t notice another passerby car coming to a halt next to his. They pull down their window and call out over the trembling noise of the storm, “Are you okay there young man?”

Sasuke peers from beneath his bangs, the hood of his jacket further obstructing his sight, “My car won’t start.” He doesn’t want to be rude to a stranger, so he tries to keep it short, “I’m just trying to figure out what’s wrong.”

The cold creeps beneath his thin layers, he tries to not shiver at the man’s astute observation, “The weather is only going to get worse from here on out you should call a pick-up company, they can come get your car as soon as the storm clears out.”

Sasuke rebuts, “But I need to get to my place, I am stranded in the middle of nowhere and quite frankly don’t seem to think it’s wise to leave my car at the side of the road.”

“That’s your best option; you could call out a cab or I can drive you to your—where did you say live again?”

Sasuke squints at him, stranger danger alarms ringing at the back of his head, but past the rolled down window the face he sees isn’t scheming. Amongst other things, he considers himself fairly good at assessing someone’s character. The frown on the man’s face, the genuine concern lacing his tone hardly set for a conniving bastard trying to make short-change out of him. Then again, this isn’t the city and he doesn’t know anyone here so he should probably consider contacting his cousin for a ride.

“Konoha, it’s uh—I have directions,” Sasuke finally offers.

The stranger lights up, “I’m from there too. How about you get your essentials and I can give you a ride, you can call the JAF and they can get on getting your car home in the meanwhile?”

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Sasuke shifts the weight of the umbrella wand from his shoulder, “You could be one of those weirdos who get hitchhikers in their car to murder them.”

It’s a polite laugh, quiet and amiable, “You’re not wrong, but if it eases your mind, I can tell you I’m not some decrepit kidnapper just a high school teacher in the town you’re trying to get to.” A little more seriously he offers, wincing at the harshness with which the rain is pelting against the hood of his car, “It’s getting really late son. And I have children of my own who’ll start worrying if I’m not home by nine. If you’d like I can drop you off once we enter town—don’t even have to drive you to your place.”

Sasuke considers it briefly before nodding, “Okay. Let me get my things.”

He closes the bonnet before grabbing his phone charger from the front, folding over the packet of chips he stuffs it into the side of the bag and gets his laptop from the pocket behind the passenger’s seat. Once he’s secured all his belongings, some of the water dripping onto his shoulders, he locks his car. He climbs into the hatchback, a little old neutral silver thing, bag in his feet, and laptop case in his lap.

Brushing an errant hand through his damp hair—it’s definitely going to get wavier than he likes due to the mist and rain—and addresses the man, “Thank you for this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he takes his foot off the brakes, the vehicle picking up speed, “There is no reason for you to be stranded on the side of the road if you can get help.”

In the overhead light of the car now he can properly see the man’s face, he’s got bifocals perched on the bridge of his nose, blonde hair that’s dusted in age, and the antique lines of his face are pressed softly around the skin. Sasuke notices there is a smile in his eyes, as if it’s always there, it gives an approachable grace to him.

“Still not most people would stop to help out a stranger,” Sasuke insists, this kind of thing would be extraordinary in the city.

The man must read his train of thought, or perhaps his expression betrays him, “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Sasuke makes a face.

“City folks are always too wary, I get it. The people are different out there, but helping someone in trouble is second-nature to us,” he peers over the steering, narrowing his eyes behind the frames, “Not that you’re wrong to be cautious just I saw you and you’re about the same age as my son. It was a split decision.”

Sasuke nods. He doesn’t know what to say to that. The days’ fatigue crashing into him full force, he tries to stay alert, still not completely comfortable around the older man, but soon enough his body is sinking into the leather of the seat.

Mindlessly he watches the dirt road give way to something akin to civilization, a town coming into view past the thicket of trees lining the sides of the road. They near a particularly alive part of town despite the heavy thunder and rain the shops seem to be open, the patrons inside comfortable in the warmth provided by the establishments, that the older gentleman next to him stops the car. Sasuke reads the name of the pharmacy; it seems to be a family business if the last name glowing in fluorescent is anything to go by.

“Is here fine?” the voice jolts him out of the reverie, “The residential area starts a few blocks down. I’d be happy to drop you at your place, but I can understand if you rather maintain your privacy.”

Sasuke blinks lethargically at the offer, then shakes his head, “This should be fine. It isn’t too far from here on out.”

The older man nods, turning on his blinkers, “Then I suppose this is it.” He extends his hand out for Sasuke, “Minato Namikaze. It was lovely meeting you…?”

“Uh,” Sasuke takes to the firm grip, “Sasuke.”

“Sasuke,” he thoughtfully repeats back, “Not sure if you’re a visitor or have moved out here, but if you ever need anything just ask around, they’ll let you to me. I can’t offer much but I know this town like the back of my hand, grew up here and everything.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he loops the strap of the holdall across his torso, pressing his laptop bag to his chest, “Have a good night, sir.”

“You too, stay safe.”

Finding the house isn’t hard. Sasuke has a really good memory. He’s been here before, several times in fact, and once he’s past the old mill that still stands near the steep hill, he spots it. The massive acres of land in front of him, the beetle-browed age of the cedar shingles showed even at first glance. There are no houses next to it, no proper gate except the fence circling the perimeter, disappearing into the forestry behind the house, that has a loose latch keeping trespassers off the property.

Sasuke’s jeans are soaked, and his feet are blistering in shoes not durable for long walks. There is an itch under the nape of his neck, the water is tickling past the hood of his jacket and his hair is wetter than before. Disgruntled at the turn of events of the day, he gathers what’s left of his energy to undo the latch and enter the wide yard that leads to the quaint door. The house retains its history, the years of life it’s spent on the piece of land and memories unwittingly escape to the forefront of his mind.

The door creaks as he pulls it open, hanging on its hinges at a jaunty angle, and Sasuke wonders if the old man ever bothered getting it fixed—or much less oiled. There are stairs at the entrance, a few steps each different in height. It spurs the forgotten ache in his knees from when he’d fall on them as a child, every so often, in attempts to race after his older brother from the genkan.

There is a switch above the small cubbies where you’re supposed to take off your shoes, he blindly tries to search for it. He flicks the button down expecting the tiny room to warm up, but nothing.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Sasuke miffs. “Of all things.”

Thankfully, his phone hasn’t run out of juice yet. He opens the main door and enters the room, the house is silent if the harsh pitter-patter of the rain could be forgiven, through the sun window in the living room he can see the water gushing into the eaves and then down the chain that vibrates thanks to the crisp wind.

Sasuke tries the lights in the main room and the kitchen, but nothing works. He’s sopping wet, making a mess out of the floorboards, and his skin is running too cold for comfort. He finds a few candles in one of the drawers in the kitchen and lights them up on the gas stove. There is a candle holder in the living room that he uses and takes off his jacket, throwing it on top of his now damp sweater. His jeans come off next and before he knows it, he’s slipping into clean joggers and a long-sleeved t-shirt.

There are clean futons in the closet that he drags out, dusting the sheets before unrolling them onto the dry part of the floor. Sasuke’s head hits the pillow and he immediately passes out. The rest he’ll deal with tomorrow.

>>>>

There is a soft ticking noise that progressively gets louder startling him out of a restful blanket of sleep. Sasuke pushes his weight on the palm of his hand, the sunlight pouring in through the translucent paper of the shoji, creeping over the tatami mat and warming up his old bones. The ticking is incessant now, it’s coming from the front door and he has half a mind of pulling out headphones from his bag and sleep well into the afternoon. But one glance at the analog clock hooked on the wall and he realizes 9:00 AM is a good time as any to get up.

He’s swallowing a yawn into the palm of his hand, another scratching under his shirt as he undoes the hook on the front door. Even his fatigue-addled brain had the common knowledge to close it properly despite how precariously it’s hanging onto the hinges.

The door opens to an unfamiliar face, a guy stood on the other side, a hand above his brows acting like a visor to the blinding sun rays. Sasuke trudges down the steps into the yard that opens before him, “What seems to be the issue?”

“Who the hell are you?”

Only then he takes into account a rock the size of a melon clutched in the man’s other hand before he even has a chance to talk, Sasuke narrows his eyes, “Were you going to use that? What did you have in mind breaking the window or something?” Finally acknowledging his question, he spurs, “And shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

He drops the rock but not the determined frown etched on his face, “Listen I can report you to the authorities for breaking and entering.”

“This is _my_ property! I should be the one reporting _you_ for trespassing. Who do you think you are?”

“Oh my god, I knew we should’ve locked the house, or we’d get loony squatters,” the man mumbles to himself ignoring Sasuke’s presence, glancing up and threatening once more, “If you don’t get out right now, I swear to god I’m going to have to call someone—”

“What are you on about—”

“The old man never locked his door! I knew something was up when the front latch was hooked.”

Sasuke blinks, “You know my great uncle?”

It’s remarkable how easily the man’s frustration morphs into a pleasing realization, he’s wiping his hand on the denim of his loose jeans and stepping forward, hand stretching out. Sunspots litter his forearms, hiding beneath a fine dusting of brownish-gold hair, there is a small scar near the end of his thumb too. Sasuke takes the offered hand into his own, calloused palms sliding over his softer ones, “Naruto, ‘m the contractor. You must be the nephew?”

“Yeah,” he swallows roughly, he didn’t get a chance to brush his teeth or wash the sleep with a glass of water so it’s dry. “Normally I’d ask how you know that, but my brother told me Madara wanted to get some work done on the place and that I should meet up with you about it.”

He laughs, it’s loud and Sasuke winces at the sound, “Color me surprised when I drive down to your place and find everything locked up, was literally here yesterday, y’know? And we’d been worried the word about the property being empty is going to get around, so the boys and I have been keeping an eye out for stragglers.”

“Right,” Sasuke folds his arms over his chest.

Naruto doesn’t belie his shortness, segueing into another stream of thought, “When’d you get in? Your brother called at the start of the month saying you should stop by sometime during the summer. We weren’t expecting you to arrive so soon.”

“Last night.” The horror of his travels from the night before resurfacing.

Naruto’s expression pinches in surprise, “Goddamn, you got in during the storm? That must’ve been a shitshow.”

“Not the most fun,” Sasuke plainly comments, he lifts a lazy shoulder towards the open door, “Hey, listen, I think the fuse is blown or something is up with the circuit because there was no power last night and I didn’t get a chance to check right now but I’m assuming it’s still out.”

There is a flash of bafflement on the blonde’s face due to the shift of topic, “Oh, right. Of course, I can check it out in the afternoon. Have another appointment in an hour nor do I have my tools on me.”

“That’s fine,” Sasuke waves limply, “I just needed to bring it to your attention. Which reminds me, did you do a once over of the house? Since my uncle hired you, I’m assuming you know about all the stuff that needs to be fixed around the place.”

Naruto nods, thumbs digging into the front pocket of his jeans, his flannel is open down his chest, the sleeves folded up to his elbows. “We had a huge reconstruction plan, he wanted to start with the yard in the back and—”

Sasuke promptly holds up his hand, “No, sorry, I should’ve been clear. I’m talking about the essentials; any structural issues or wiring or the electric circuit. We need to get it fixed by the end of the week.”

“Excuse me?”

Did he not hear him? He hasn’t even had his morning tea yet and if his uncle hired someone incompetent it’s going to increase his workload of finding someone suitable. Mentally he creates a checklist, calling Itachi on top of it to see if the company the contractor is with is reliable or not.

Sasuke repeats himself for good measure, standing up straighter, “We can’t waste time fixing fixtures and aesthetics of the house. It needs to be functional and decent so I can put it on the market by the end of the week. Latest next Monday.”

“You’re planning on selling the place?” the incredulity rises in the modality of voice, followed by a spike in the volume too. “You’re aware how old this place is right? The importance it has to the community and your great uncle—”

“I’m sorry, why are you telling me this?” Sasuke interrupts him. “Who are you to tell me about it’s supposed history? If you can’t get the place fixed up by the end of the week, it’s fine I can find a new contractor.”

The man’s proper mad now, not taken to Sasuke’s direct tone, “Listen, asshat, this place is important to me because I was close to the old man—as was everyone in this town in their own right. I don’t care what you want to do with this property but the least you can do is honor his wishes to fix—”

“Naruto, right? How about we come to the agreement you keep your opinions to yourself unless it has to do with the job?”

“Fine,” Naruto steps back, anger lancing his words, there is red smearing his cheeks because of the rising heat, “Good luck finding another worker in this town willing to help you.”

Sasuke watches his back.

There is nothing to eat in the house aside from the molding on the countertop. Sasuke throws it out after he gets off the phone with JAF, apparently, they should arrive at his place in another hour, so he uses that time to scour the house high and low. Eventually, he finds a box of jasmine tea tucked in a metal tin, dividers separating it from the other kinds which seem to be empty now.

Putting on the kettle to heat up water, he washes a mug he extracts from one of the cabinets, the whole house is covered in a thin film of dust. Madara Uchiha, his great uncle on his father’s side, passed away a little over two months ago. Their family had a funeral in town, no fanfare, a few close relatives and that’s all—he wasn’t able to attend though since he was tied up with a work project.

Upon arrival Itachi had thrust him the will his uncle had left behind, outlining the copious amount of wealth and property he’d left behind and out of the large inheritance that was meant to be distributed between the four nephews and one niece he had (at least that’s what they had expected) he chose to divide it 75/25; only dispersing it to Sasuke and another cousin of his, a bit older than the rest of them, Obito.

This obviously had the entire family talking. Sasuke is used to gossip, it’s customary when you belong to such a huge family because aunties and uncles love speculating, love talking, love inserting their noses where they don’t belong. Perhaps that’s one of the biggest factors why he grew up to be such a private person, it’s not just his parents who have an eye on him it’s also the rest of his family; especially considering their affluent pedigree. Ah, the woes of the rich. He can’t say he’s not a little peeved at how he’s gotten ensnared in this mess.

Sasuke settles on the outer corridor, the traditional engawa, feet crossed drinking his tea. Other than the petrichor emanating from the rapidly drying plum tree, mossy stones, and the quaint pond, there was not a trace of evidence that there was a raging storm the night before. It’s funny he’d been on the brink of losing his mind due to the circumstances produced by the weather, and today he got to sit on the solid wooden floorboards drinking jasmine tea to calm his nerves.

Still, there was an unsettling emotion brewing in his chest, the seed had been planted the second he’d decided to drive out here. Sasuke’s phone is still dead and since he pissed off his contractor, he’s going to have to find an internet café to charge it first, then go to the store to get some groceries and hire himself a new contractor. Thank god, Madara still had those non-digital landline phones so he could use it earlier to call about his car.

As promised his car arrives around 11:00 am and Sasuke pats himself for remembering to pack his car charger and plugs his phone in. He waits for it to come to life, driving down the south bend towards the crowded part of town with all the stores and essentials, he passes by the pharmacy he was dropped by at last night and pulls into the lot of the only grocery store he could locate.

Surprisingly the store is brimming with life, someone greets him at the door as if they’re old friends and Sasuke offers a partial nod to the cordial behavior. He grabs a basket near the flowers, navigating towards the cold produce section he tosses a bag of haricot verts, sliced baby bella mushrooms, and shredded carrots into it. From the refrigerated fruits, he grabs raspberries and sniffs the strawberries but they don’t smell too sweet so he puts them back down. A packet of fresh spinach, a few red potatoes, and two sweet potatoes, two apples later he’s moving towards the meat aisle.

Distractedly he’s scrolling through the onslaught of notifications popping on his phone, now that it’s awake, and runs into someone. Quickly he looks up and offers, “I’m sorry.”

It’s the older man from last night, glasses askew due to their jostle, “Would you look at that, you survived the storm!”

“I did,” Sasuke smiles, it’s genuine because he had decided this man could be trusted. He’s got a cart half full of at least two weeks’ worth of grocery, he’s in a light grey crewneck and khaki pants. Proper dad attire. “Getting groceries for the week?”

He glances down and up quickly, the smile in his eyes is still there, same as last night. Sasuke recognizes it is kind. “Yeah, spring break ends tomorrow so back to school after that. I wanted to make sure I’m fully stocked at least for the next two weeks.”

Sasuke nods, skimming over the signs to grab a sealed pack of chicken thighs, two packages of sliced breast and a full chicken. The man notes it, “No beef?”

“Oh,” Sasuke blinks, “I’m not too good at making beef. For some reason, there’s always this smell.”

“Ah,” the man clicks his tongue as he knows, “That’s hard to get rid of you’re right. Chicken is less of a hassle in the kitchen. Do you like eating it though?”

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, I am craving beef tofu soup.” Sasuke muses if they have stock he can use and try his hand at his mother’s recipe.

Minato laughs, something about the sound tickles at the back of his mind, “Do you know how to make some?”

“Not really, my mom has a recipe.”

“How’s this, you get the ingredients and I cook you some for lunch.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that I already owe you for the ride last night.”

Minato pushes his cart to the dry produce, feeling an onion in the width of his palm before taking a produce bag and dropping few into it, “Don’t be polite. Besides you can pay for the ingredients I’m simply offering you my kitchen.”

Sasuke grabs a packet of potato chips—he really needs to stop eating this trash, but he’s a snacker, and he prefers salty treats to sweet. The man continues, “You’re new in town, right? We can speed you up to town traditions.”

“That’s kind of you,” Sasuke’s got a laundry list of things to get through, but he’s realizing how much he needs to buy to adequately stock his place and it drags a tired slouch out of him. The promise of a homemade soup sounds delightful right about now. “Are you sure I’m not troubling you?”

“Please, I’d love the company. Maybe my kids will join us too. You’d like my son, he’s a good kid. My daughter though, well, she’s a riot,” he offers, and Sasuke doesn’t have the heart to say he’s not the most sociable person but parents have the tendency to oversell their children. Minato has been nothing but pleasant so far though, so he assumes his son to be similar.

“My mom would yell at me if I turned you down any more than I have.”

Minato’s features soften, he looks at him with somber light blue eyes, “Moms are hardly ever wrong.”

“You’re right about that,” add another to-do to his ever-growing list. They get in line and at the register the cashier excitedly greets Minato, coming beside the counter to bear hug him, Sasuke stands behind waiting his turn watching the whole exchange.

She gushes in a sweet voice, “Where’ve you’ve been? That rascal of yours was all hush-hush.”

Minato laughs, “My in-laws wanted me to come up and see about a property. Had to go see them to tie loose ends.”

“Well, your brats are menacing in your absence I hope you know. My Kiba didn’t come home all weekend,” she explains, eyes drifting to Sasuke now. She blinks imperceptibly, “Oh, you’re a new face?”

“This is Sasuke,” Minato introduces, Sasuke nods in a hello which is received by the lady, a ruffled look to her curly hair, “Sasuke, this is Tsume she works here on the weekends, but her family owns the vet clinic.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You’re young, we don’t get a lot of young folks around here. Do you have family in town or—?”

“Visiting,” Sasuke lies through his teeth, it’ll be less of a struggle when he leaves. He doesn’t want to leave the impression that he’s here to settle roots. “Had vacation time piled up so picked a random city and here we are.”

She squints for a moment, “Young people are strange. You could’ve gone to Kumo or somewhere nicer. But, well, hope you enjoy it! Our small town is lovely, right, Minato?”

Sasuke faces the older man who’s got a look to his face, for a second he gambles that Minato saw through his lie, but then he’s easily sliding into the well-worn comfortable smile of his, “It is.”

They checkout with little fanfare once the polite conversation is out of the way. Sasuke actually helps Minato with his bags. Before pointing to his car, “Should I just follow you?”

Minato nods, “Yes! I don’t live too far from here.”

The man is right because in under five minutes they’re stopping outside of a decently sized modern house. Sasuke parks on the side of the road, Minato pulling his own car into the driveway, and follows after the man carrying the ingredients for the soup; he again helps taking out the groceries.

The house isn’t huge, it’s not even super new, but as soon as Sasuke crosses the threshold he’s welcomed to a proper lived-in home. There are height marks on the wall that ends with the hallway, there is a hand-knitted blanket draped on the back of the couch, a particularly old crayon drawing stuck on the fridge—old enough that the paper has started to pale—and of course piles of DVDs bursting from under the tabletop the TV is balanced on.

Minato hurries around in practiced steps around the kitchen, sorting stuff into the respectful cabinets, and talks Sasuke through the process of locating his deep pot, “It should be in the cabinet under the counter.”

“Oh, found it,” Sasuke extracts it from its place, “Now what?”

“Okay grab the packet of meat you got and cut it into small pieces, the pickled cabbage too,” Sasuke knows the recipe by heart even if he’s never attempted to try it. Once he’s cut everything as expected, Minato moves in front of the stove, he shoos Sasuke away.

“Help yourself to anything in the fridge.”

There’s a moment of hesitation before he opens the double-doored refrigerator, he finds a chilled water bottle and takes it. There is cold hibiscus lemon tea too in a pitcher that he takes out and pours himself some into a glass, and another for the older man.

“Thank you, it’s getting so hot we’ve hardly touched summer,” Minato complains.

Sasuke belatedly realizes drinking warm soup at the beginning of this heatwave _isn’t_ the best idea, but he’s a tenacious child since forever and remembers days of sweltering heat and demanding his mother’s chicken noodle soup. The comfort a good homemade soup provides is unparalleled in his unbiased opinion.

The food doesn’t take more than thirty minutes to cook, conversation freely flows between the two men despite the fact that Sasuke’s never been this comfortable around an adult outside of his parents. There is something oddly grounding in the way Minato approaches him, engages him, it’s reminiscent of his father when they’d go to different tea shops, biggest tea drinkers in the family, chatting over things from his school or his work or family. Unintentionally the stringent knot in his stomach pronounces itself, pressing against the walls, and Sasuke takes another sip of the tea.

He’d enjoy this.

He’d like Minato too, he wagers.

Sasuke joins the man at the kitchen table, he saw a dining table in the other room when he walked in, but this smaller one is perfect for a quick lunch. They’ve got some sides set out too, and Minato is putting the steaming pot on the folded napkin when the front door audibly beats open.

A distinct voice floating down the hallway, “I smell food!”

There is another one that joins it, reprimanding in its tone, “Oi! Naruto! Don’t just throw your shoes! Dad cleaned the place.”  
  


The soft thudding of footsteps quickly increases, and to his unfortunate luck, Sasuke watches the blonde bound into the kitchen, stopping short at recognizing him.

“What the fuck.”

“You gave him a ride home? Is that why you got late? Dad, it was a shitstorm outside what if something had happened? But you had to stop for the bastard—”

“Naruto!” Minato is horrified. The redhead in the back is flitting around the kitchen, evidently unbothered by the debacle taking place in her kitchen and scours for a bowl for herself. Sasuke watches her, but Naruto’s grating voice drags him back in when he calls him some alternative of ass-insert-whatever-word-the-blonde-has-deemed-fit.

Pushing back his chair he begins to stand, “I should leave.”

“Yeah, you should,” Naruto insists.

Minato’s face sets in a grim line and Sasuke imagines it’s an uncharacteristic expression because it doesn’t look right, in fact, even Naruto frowns at it, “Sit down, Naruto.”

“But dad!”

“Sasuke is _my_ guest,” Minato pulls himself a chair next to his son, “And I prepared him a meal so either you sit down and eat or leave.”

The girl snickers before kissing her father’s cheek, “Thanks, dad.”

He smiles at that. Sasuke awkwardly sits down again, joining the Namikaze household during lunch, and quietly offers a bow, “Thank you for the food.”

Minato breaks his chopsticks mixing the silken tofu into his soup, “You’re welcome, Sasuke.”

Naruto grumbles out a thanks of his own, getting a bowl to pour himself some soup. The girl introduces herself as Karin and chews around her food, pointing the chopsticks at Sasuke, “So, what’d you do to crawl up my brother’s ass?”

Naruto fumbles a bit, the soup going down the wrong pipe because he chokes into a strangled cough, “Karin!”

“What? You’ve been in a mood since you went to Old Man Madara’s place,” she picks through the roasted seaweed, plucking a piece of pickled microgreens.

Naruto puts down his own chopsticks, “It’s nothing.”

Sasuke stays quiet. Not further escalating the situation. He’s going to finish the food and see himself out. Minato breaks a piece of bread from the basket puts half a piece in Naruto’s plate, his bowl of soup hardly touched, and the other half in Sasuke’s.

“Don’t mind my intrusion because it truly is none of our business, but if you’re here to sell the house why did you feel the need to lie at the grocers’ about who you are?” Minato’s eyes aren’t hardened, there is a lick of disappointment though, and Sasuke finally places the emotion he saw striking him earlier when they were shopping.

It oddly burgeons a curdling in his stomach akin to spoiled milk, “How did you know?”

Minato sighs, “Son, you’re the carbon copy of your uncle. Albeit fashionably better about keeping your hair short, but your family has very distinct mannerisms too; it’s not too hard to deduce who you are.”

Karin snorts around her spoon, “Everyone knows the Uchihas around here. Just because you lot choose to not live here doesn’t change the fact that this _is_ your hometown.”

Sasuke doesn’t know what to say, this is entirely unfamiliar terrain. He’s well-versed in the clipped ways his family maneuvers, but to navigate a whole town that’s seemingly in on a secret that’s not much a secret he doesn’t really know how to handle.

Naruto glares at him over his food, arms crossed over his chest as he leans back. Sasuke draws in a long-suffering sigh, “I’m sorry. Offending any of you wasn’t my intention. I’m simply here on business and would like to wrap it up as soon as possible so I can return to the city.”

Minato gives him a consoling smile, but Naruto interrupts, “If it barely matters then leave the house as is. We can fix it and preserve it—”

“No.” Sasuke steels at the suggestion, “This isn’t negotiable, Mr. Namikaze.”

Karin and Naruto both correct in unison, “Uzumaki.”

“Huh?” Sasuke replies stupidly.

“My name is Naruto Uzumaki,” the younger blonde clarifies, Sasuke fleetingly glances at his father and then back.

“Alright, Mr. Uzumaki. The matter of the house isn’t up for debate. I need it on the market by the end of the week; that’s all I’m willing to allot.”

Minato purses his lips. Naruto’s thinking if Sasuke can guess by the deep press of the worry lines over his forehead, “You don’t even want to see the plans? Old man—Madara—wanted to fix up the garden and the pond, y’know? The creaky backdoor too and open the clearing to put a few stables—”

Sasuke doesn’t understand what he has to do to get through this man’s thick skull that he isn’t budging from this. Naruto’s tone shifts into softer vowels, contrasting his previously brash behavior, “Sasuke that house is 130 years old. It’s stunning. You’re going to let your family history die if you sell it, you do realize that, right?”

“It’s just a house,” Sasuke pushes back his seat and stands up. Pivoting to the oldest man in the room he bows in respect, “Thank you for the meal and for all your help so far. I’m truly in your debt.”

Minato raises his hands kindly, eyes wrinkling, “No need to thank me, please. Come by any time. Our door is always open.”

“Unless Naruto’s home,” Karin jokes throwing him a peace sign, and Sasuke can manage an actual smile. She’s funny.

He nods before moving to the entrance, Minato seeing him till the start of the hallway. Naturally, he reaches into his pocket to pluck out his phone, tapping at the safari app to do a quick search, but he’s stopped at the call of his name.

Naruto stumbles down the steepish driveway, ruffling his hair with one hand, before coming to stop in front of him, “I’ll stop by in a bit and look at the circuit. It’s probably just a blown fuse.”

“You don’t have to do a job you don’t want to,” Sasuke assures, “I’m sure there is someone here who can.”

“You don’t get it,” Naruto says, “I grew up playing hide and seek in that house, I ran to hide at your uncle’s when I’d get in trouble at school, that place _is_ like a second home to me. There is no one that knows the place better than me.”

Sasuke bites his tongue because the urge to say _I do_ is present, it’s a childish voice that goads him, but he suppresses the petty itch. Naruto laughs lightly, tapping two fingers on the right side of his temple, “Got the whole blueprint up here.”

“Fine,” Sasuke concedes, “But I’m not having another discussion about selling the place.”

“That’s fair.” Naruto nods seriously, “Dad is right it’s none of our business.”

“See ya then.”

“See ya.”

>>>>

“You’re shitting me.” Sasuke gawks at the list, pulling at his hair a bit because this cannot be real. This list is huge and requires a complete restoration of the house, in this much work he might as well bulldoze the property and start completely new. “How does this place has so much water damage? Did he not get any work done over the years?”

“The flood season is particularly harsh around here and the foundation of this house is pretty old so uprooting everything would be insane, but since the level of the platform is really low there is a lot of damage under the floorboard,” Naruto explains, he is fiddling with the broken part of the fuse back, replacing it accordingly as he speaks to Sasuke, “You might have to remove the shoji around the two rooms in the eastern wing of the house pretty sure there is a termite problem.”

“What!?” Sasuke screams helplessly, “What the fuck? This house has termites.”

Naruto tests the new setup, closing the box once the lights flicker on in the basement, and points up to the ceiling, “See water damage.”

Sasuke glances up and sees what he’s talking about. He pinches the bridge of his nose, “How much is this going to cost?”

“Oh, uh, don’t worry about it,” Naruto waves him off, he’s got a tool belt secured around his waist, he picks out a screwdriver, “You said the front door was wonky?”

“Hold on a second,” Sasuke reaches to stop him by gripping his upper arm, “I’m paying you. This shit is insanely extensive.”

Naruto opens his mouth, but Sasuke firmly puts his foot down, “Non-negotiable.”

“Are you lenient about anything or—?” Naruto jokes, but then quickly slouches into a tired sigh, “Fine, the reinstallation will cost more than the repairs. This is a huge house you could be spending up till 50k redoing every room and floorboard.”

Sasuke absorbs the blueprint Naruto had brought with him, “Is the main room and veranda the one with the most damage?”

“Yeah.”

“How long do you think it’ll take to fix them?”

Naruto scratches at his chin, “I can get my boys here by eight tomorrow, so about two full days of work.”

Sasuke nods, “Okay, you need to fix the plumbing issue and the faulty wiring too, right?”

“Yep.”

“That’ll take how long?”

“Give or take two days.”

“Perfect,” Sasuke hands him back the papers, list of to-do’s Naruto had sketched out with Madara earlier on in the year. “That’s four full days of work and you can use the last two to fix the smaller stuff around the house. The cabinet in the parlor is loose around the hinges and the kitchen needs refurbishing. You should be done by say Friday by anyone’s standard?”

Naruto frowns, “Wait a second, we need to decide on materials it’ll take longer than just 5 days to—”

“Listen Naruto, we have five days to make this house less of a hazard and more of an appealing structure for the mass to invest in. Just work on fixing the insides and I’ll figure out the rest.”

“But what you want me to pick everything?”

Sasuke chews on the inside of his gums, glancing up from plans set for the house on the old table in the basement, and sees Naruto chewing on the inside of his thumb. He immediately stops, “You know this house best, right? Then pick the best for it.”

Naruto offers a half-hearted smile, “Alright.”

He adds gathering his materials, “This is going to cost a lot especially getting labor in such a short time.”

“That’s fine, money’s not the issue,” Sasuke pulls out his phone, taps out a message to his assistant about the meeting he rescheduled for the end of May and another to Sakura. He tosses a glimpse at Naruto when he notices the quiet, eyes on him, “What?”

“Nothing,” he follows him out towards the door that needs fixing, he picks out a screw from his belt, the right size for the front door, “What are your plans for tonight?”

“What?”

“I’m assuming you’re going to stay in? Madara’s TV got busted about a fucking decade ago and he never bothered to get a new one. You’re going to be bored as shit out of your mind tonight,” Naruto rambles taking the door off from its fulcrums. The screws go through the jambs as he fixes it into place.

Sasuke has to ask, “Do you always curse this much, or it’s specifically in my presence?”

Naruto pauses, splitting into peals of laughter after a moment of reprieve, “I think I curse a normal amount. What, do city boys think they’re above letting out a _fuck_ or two?”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, “Won’t be dignifying that with a response. And I’m not sure I might catch up on some reading. Turn in early. The possibilities are endless.”

The blonde’s got a laugh wedged between his perfect teeth, it’s similar to the smile his father always carries, “If the possibilities turn too boring, you’re welcome to join my friends and I at the local bar. The beer tastes like piss but the company is great.”

He wrinkles his nose at that, “Thanks for the offer, I think I’ll turn in though.”

“Suit yourself.” Naruto pats down the newly reattached door and dusts off the grime from his hands onto the fabric of his loose jeans, “Then I’m done here for the night. I’m going to head out.”

“Good night.”

“You too!” Naruto backs out towards his truck, “I hope the reading is a good time.”

Sasuke figures that doesn’t warrant a response other than a wave.

His mother calls around nine, Sasuke picks up at the first ring, “What do I owe the pleasure?”

“That’s hardly a proper greeting, Sasuke,” his mother chides naturally, he settles into the broken-in chair, the cushion sagging under his weight, with his cup of oolong tea he got from the store today.

He sips around the cup, it’s huge and he’s deserved it after his whirlwind of a day, “Hello mother, how are you?”

“Better,” he can hear her smile over the phone, it’s his favorite image to put a sound to, “Itachi told me you’ve already terrorized the contractor into quitting. It’s been less than 24 hours, Sasuke, cut that poor man some slack.”

Sasuke laughs into his mug, “Itachi is relaying nonsense as usual. The contractor, Naruto, has agreed to work on the place. It’s probably going to cost more than I first thought.”

“Hrm, but I’m sure you’ve sorted that out too.” She moves he can tell due to the rustling on the other end, “Aside from that how’s my baby?”

“Mother,” Sasuke slips out a nasally whine, it’s pretty much reserved for his mother only, “We’ve talked about this. I’m a twenty-four years old, grown man—”

“And still my child who I’ve raised, so what now?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“I’m your mother,” she reminds as if he’s ever forgotten, “So?”

“I’m fine, everything is fine.” There is a lingering impasse between his admission, but concedes in the privacy of the phone call, “Just a lot of memories here.”

“I know, it’s been a while. Is it still the same?”

“I’m sitting in the chair that I dropped the hot bowl of Tsukemen when I was five,” he recollects the fragments of his childhoods that are pressed into each part of this house, “Do you remember the room where grandma slept? It’s still got the glow in the dark stars I put there with Shisui.”

“Sasuke.”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you selling the house, baby?”

Sasuke takes a gulp of the tea, bones relaxing from the day’s happenings, “It’s just a house.”

They talk a little more and when his mom starts yawning into the receiver, he lets her go. He figures he should rest too especially if he’s going to get up early to get through some work emails and whatnot.

Sleep winks away from him, tantalizing him by loosening the joint of his bones, but never truly touching the lightweight eyelids of his. Sasuke tosses and turns, he tries to read, he drinks another cup of tea, then tries some more. Nothing. Around the cusp of 11 PM, he dredges for his car keys, stumbling into his Chelsea boots that are now stained by the mud from the storm the night before and makes his way to his car.

Finding the bar is easy. There are three of them in the whole town, but this one looks the liveliest, a younger age group of patrons loitering around entrance smoking or socializing. Sasuke parks a few feet from the fire hydrant and locks his car. A group of girls stop to peek at him, he knows because he’s waiting behind another guy who’s opening the door and one of them winks when he takes in his surroundings. That sets a bad taste in his mouth.

Sasuke has never had trouble drawing someone’s attention, attention is like a staple in his family, but it’s a tired routine in his head. He beelines towards the bar, placing his order to the bartender who amicably greets him, and settles on one of the stools.

“Scotch neat,” the guy slides his glass to him.

Sasuke takes a small sip, pacing himself instead of drinking in one go, he scouts the area to see if the contractor is still around. A body slides next to him, shoulder brush against bare skin, “Surprised seeing you here.”  
  
“Karin,” he remembers from the afternoon.

She smiles, she’s wearing contacts now, and a jet-black halter top. Her hair is wrapped in space buns, lips glossy she calls out her order, the bartender lingers once he’s placed her drink, but she’s not interested. Sasuke can tell how she turns into herself angling completely to him, “Good memory, sport. So, what are you doing here?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Sasuke shrugs, thumbing the lip of his glass, “Your brother said he’d be here, and I can join if I’m too bored.”

“Ah,” she exhales, her hand waves somewhere to the far left, “He’s currently occupied by his flavor of the month.”

“What?” Sasuke asks for no reason because following her gesture he locates Naruto tucked into the side of a booth, a pretty girl perched on his lap and his tongue down her throat. “Oh!”

“Tell me, Sasuke, are you one of those stuffy businessman types?” Karin plays with the straw of her appletini.

Sasuke lets the counter bear his weight, his side completely pressed to it, “If you’re asking do I wear suits. Yeah, I do.”

“That’s hot,” her brilliant garnet eyes twinkle, “You’re really hot you know that.”

Sasuke takes a swig of his drink, “I’m here for a drink and I can tell you’re not _actually_ interested in me.”

She laughs, it’s loud like Naruto’s but shrill. It doesn’t hurt to listen though, and she’s easy on the eyes, “You’re so straightforward. I love it. How’d you know?”

“Body language,” he shrugs dismissively.

“Someone’s well-versed in women,” Karin pointedly raises a brow, “Can I assume you get around?”

Sasuke shifts in his chair to sit a bit more comfortably, “No, it’s not that. I just have a good read on people. The same way I knew your father could be trusted when he offered me a ride in the middle of nowhere; people have tell-tale signs about them that give away their intentions. I’m just good at picking them.”

Karin hums, the mention of her father bringing a placid tenderness over her, she takes a seat too, her knee knocking into his, “He’s a good guy, dad, I mean. Trusting face and all.”

“Yeah,” Sasuke agrees. “You don’t take after him in that.”

She looks up at him, gazing through her fringe. Sasuke clarifies, “I don’t mean it in offense it’s more careful in your case, a little hardened. You don’t seem the type to trust people easily.”

“When you’ve got a father that’s kind to a fault and a brother who…” She trails off fiddling around with straw of her drink, “Well, let’s just say someone has to pick up the slack.”

Sasuke nods, “I understand.”

“Do you?” her eyes twinkle mirthfully. “You’re sitting here reading me to filth but hardly giving anything away about yourself. Is that how you make friends?”

  
“I’m not here to make friends.”

She releases a nasally sound, “And here I thought I could sneak into the inner circle.”

“Perhaps if the circumstances were different.”

“So, you can see the possibility of a friendship here?” Karin drains the glass empty, wiping her mouth by the back of her hand, her lipstick stays perfectly intact. “No one comes to our part of town just on business. But that’s fine if you want to be all secretive about why you’re itching to get out of here when you’ve hardly settled in, but just know. If you need a friend, I’m here.”

Sasuke doesn’t understand how someone can be patronizing and heartily sincere in the same breath, but Karin does exactly that, squeezing his shoulder in a light pressure and slipping away to the booth she’d pointed to earlier.

Sasuke finishes the dregs of his drink, leaving the bartender tip before inconspicuously skating out of the bar. His eyelids feel heavy around the edges as he pulls into his property. There is an odd settlement in the concavity of his chest. He decides that Friday can’t come sooner.

>>>>

The next morning he’s up before the construction labor shows at his door, Sasuke unhooks the door to a white-haired man and brunette hanging off his shoulder, they’re holding a toolbox and a truck is pulling into the front of the property parallel to his own car—dwarfing it in size—and he can see material hanging from the bed.

“Yo!” the one with the lighter hair had has sharp teeth, his eyes bright, “We’re here to work on the house. You must be Sasuke?”

Sasuke nods stepping outside, hands on his hips he cranes to see the rest of the men filing in, another truck coming in the picture, but even amongst them, he can’t seem to spot his appointed contractor.

“Where’s Naruto?”

The one with the brown hair, canines just as sharp as the other guy, yawns into the crook of his elbow, “Probably dead and hungover somewhere.”

Sasuke raises a brow at the callous behavior, but the other one introduces himself. “I’m Suigetsu. We’re both Naruto’s work partners and best friends.”

“You guys started the business together?”

“Something like that,” Kiba confirms, “He’ll be here before noon, don’t worry, chief.”

“Fine,” he holds open the door for the men, “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

They go through the house high and low. There are parts of it that don’t need to be touched but since there is faulty wiring throughout the building, he figures he needs to give a detailed tour. That said the men seem to be familiar with the house, they offhandedly comment on the beam and the pillars that should be looked at, but Sasuke tells them he only needs the completely essential fixed. As long as the foundation is solid, he doesn’t care about the aesthetics of the house. The buyers can repair the rest as they see fit.

Suigetsu stops at the door sliding open to the veranda, the wide garden coming into view, there is a well here too, the bucket set next to it. He asks, “You don’t want to fix the drainage here?”

“What do you mean?” Sasuke follows his line of sight, seeing the pool of water stagnant outside of the pond. He’d assumed that was due to the storm, but it should be dried out by now.

Suigetsu climbs down, the soil sinks under the press of his sturdy boots, “The drainage system is shoot; it explains the leaks in the basement too and the soil isn’t retaining water absorption. The runoff is probably coming from the gutter system, it could be a simple fix of diverting the spout.”

Kiba scratches the back of his head, “Or we can install a French drain. Obviously depending on how much damage is there.”

Sasuke tiredly scrubs a hand over his face, it’s only eight in the morning and he did get full seven hours of sleep—far more than he’s used to—but an impending migraine impedes his thoughts. He asks, “How is this house still standing?”

“The foundation is sturdy,” Suigetsu laughs, he juts a finger to the roof, “Everything is functional it just still needs tending to. Houses are built like humans y’know. Just like we need care and protection so do they.”

He understands the analogy, but he’s got nothing to contribute, “We should check out the main bedroom.”

Kiba raises a brow that he chooses to ignore, guiding the men towards the main room.

Naruto shows up an hour before noon, basically right before the group of men have decided to break out for lunch, and he’s holding one of those sugary iced coffees to his forehead conversing with Jūgo. Sasuke found the bigger man the most tolerable, but he’s starting to crack a smile or two at Suigetsu’s perverse comments so who knows.

Sasuke wipes at his brows, the bandana he’s got wrapped around his head is holding back his hair but the sweat still trickles down the bridge of his nose, the sun at its highest at this time of day. He approaches the blonde, “Nice of you to show up.”

Naruto offers a guilty grin, it’s the first day and he’s already slacking by Sasuke’s standards, “Sorry last night—”

“I’m not paying you to drink yourself into a hangover, Uzumaki,” Sasuke curtly cuts him off. “Listen, Suigetsu said he needs you to look over the basement plans before he can do anything so if you’re done fucking about, I’d like you to get to work.”

“Are you permanently this constipated?” Naruto grimly counters, his mouth is downturned and Sasuke doesn’t have time for another spat. “Being so bitter constantly must be exhausting.”

“You show up late and have the audacity to question why I’m pissed?”

“My crew came on time, didn’t they? The work started as scheduled and we’re still on track. What’s your goddamn issue?”

“The fact you can’t take your own damn job seriously.”

“Don’t tell me how to—”

Sasuke walks away, he’s going to check out the fixtures in the guest room, he doesn’t wait for a response. He borrowed tools from the crew and is working on fixing the cabinets in the kitchen, they’re all loose around the hinges and he’s got a leaky pipe from the sink, which is an easy fix, but it still requires him to get under them. He’s tightening the nut to stop the dripping, feet scuffing on the floorboards drawing his attention, he squints from below at the man standing next to his legs.

“The boys are going to break out for lunch, I just wanted you to know,” Naruto’s got a cloth wrapped around his left hand, Sasuke can’t see his face, but he’s wearing the same jeans as yesterday; the loose trimmings at the bottom brushing the dusty floor.

“That’s fine,” Sasuke replies.

The rest of the kitchen doesn’t take him too long; he’s chugging down water when there is a knock on the front door. Sasuke pushes the sleeves of his t-shirt further up his shoulder, folding it up around the joint of his arm, and draws open the already open door. If it was one of the guys, he doesn’t get why they couldn’t let themselves in, he’s got the whole house open as is so they can come and go as they please.

Beyond the threshold stood a man, similar build to his own, cropped black hair and scar wrinkling over his left eye and cheek*. He could see the resemblance in the features, Minato’s sagacious observation tumbling into his mind at the thought, the strong bones and nose. Sasuke comes down to stand in front of him, but Obito’s pulling him into a hug, ignoring his offered hand.

“You’re all grown up, Sas,” he pats his back vigorously, again and again, and it thuds against Sasuke’s shoulder blades. He awkwardly returns the hug, but Obito’s unaware of his struggle, “Goddamn, last time I saw you you were lisping around all your vowels.”

“I was seven,” Sasuke puts distance between them. “It’s been about almost twenty years since then, toto.”  
  


The old nickname climbs a radiant smile over the older man’s feature, mistiness touches the edges of his eyes and he’s ruffling Sasuke’s hair as if he’s still the stumbling child who ran behind his older cousins trying to chip away their attention. He hugs Sasuke again, tighter this time and breathes out like he’s held this close to his chest for years, “Missed you. Missed you so much.”

Sasuke returns the embrace this time, “Yeah, same here.”

They sit in the veranda, Sasuke hands him the cup of steaming Lavender Jasmine Green tea and crosses a leg under his bottom, the water trickling in a waterfall from the small cliff on the side of the pond, the pattering providing a serene music to the otherwise silent house. Obito accepts it gratefully, blowing air on the hot liquid, and takes a sip, “You should come over for dinner.”

“I don’t want to impose,” Sasuke settles comfortably, this is his favorite part of the house, the plum tree is blooming over the body of water, the petals flourishing into their grainy purples.

“Don’t be stupid I’d be happy to have you over. My place is a few miles out from the here, I’ve got myself a sheep farm it’s not huge, but it is mine.” He angles towards Sasuke, “My place is nice too. The contractor you hired actually helped me put it together about two summers ago. You’d like it.”

“Tonight?” Sasuke double-checks, “I can come around seven.”

“That is perfect.” He keeps the question about Naruto on the tip of his tongue, the guy has so much buzz around him and yet all Sasuke’s gotten out of him is laziness.

Obito lingers for another few minutes before heading out. Jūgo finds Sasuke in the shed out back, he’s moving around storage boxes and seeing what he can get rid of and whatnot.

“We have a problem,” he advances him without preamble, there is a smear of dirt over his forehead, the tan line from his builder hat shows when he takes it off to run a hand over it, “We found mold in one of the rooms; I’m guessing it’s been a while since they got construction done around the place so now that we’re restoring parts of it new problems keep coming up.”

Sasuke heaves an exhale, “What do you need to do then? Mold remediation?”

Jūgo is stunned at him saying that, “You know a lot of homeowners aren’t this knowledgeable about construction work?”

“My family owns a construction company,” Sasuke details. Talking to Jūgo has been easier as the day progressed, he doesn’t ask unnecessary questions, keeps to himself and is polite. Sasuke can get along with someone like this. “I basically grew in the business, so I know my way around a house.”

“But you didn’t know how much went into this specific one.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s why we got a week's time?” the brunt orange-haired fellow asks, “You estimated all the required fixes won’t take longer than that. Why not bring out your own team to do the job?”

“Our business has expanded over the years and besides Itachi hired Naruto before I got around to seeing what could be done,” Sasuke explains.

“We can look through the other rooms,” Jūgo offers an intermediate solution for the time being, “If we find more, obviously the whole remediation is required, but if it’s only isolated in that one room it’ll be easier to get a spray from the hardware store and get it fixed before the day ends.”

Sasuke offers a thankful smile, “Thanks, Jūgo.”

“Anytime, Sasuke.”

>>>>

Sasuke folds the sleeve of his jumper inward, he checks his hair in the rearview mirror, the strands drying from his shower and takes the cake box out of the plastic bag. Mikoto has a few thumb rules, the bare necessities to life as she calls them, and one of them is to never—absolutely _never_ —show up to someone’s house empty-handed. Sasuke’s spent countless hours in shopping departments trailing his mother so she can pick the perfect gift for the people hosting them for the evening, it doesn’t even matter if it was a close relative because then the gaudy gift is swapped for a home-prepped meal. That’s just how things were done in his house—still are, in fact.

Personally, he didn’t get the time to bake something from scratch, not to mention his limited resources because the oven in the kitchen doesn’t work, so he bought something from the bakery. Hopefully, he remembers right about his cousin’s sweet tooth.

He’s barely made it up the land towards the house when two puppies come bounding from the porch. One of them is a border collie that has light grey fur with a white underside, he also wears a blue vest and a collar that droops around his neck. The other one is smaller, slower too, a pug with brown fur and a dark brown snout and ears, similar vest and collar. Sasuke crouches down to read the tags, the bigger pup’s tail wagging enthusiastically and barking in his face, but it’s not aggressive. More so acknowledging his presence.

The smaller dog, Pakkun, takes to him immediately his supple pink paws touching his knee as he tries to balance himself up. Shiba is a little hesitant at first, he ultimately cuddles into the palm of Sasuke’s stretched hand.

“I see you’ve met my welcoming committee,” Obito joins after them, the dogs circle around his feet, sniffing his scent until they’re satisfied. Sasuke stands and hands the box, “You shouldn’t have.”

“They’re cute, I didn’t know you were a dog person,” Sasuke asks, “Also, hope you like chocolate because that’s all they had left.”

“Kakashi is going to have a fit, but I can assure you this cake won’t live to see tomorrow,” Obito leads him into the house, it’s a medium-sized one-story structure. There are folded laundry on the couch, the table has stacks of magazines and the wall behind the couch is decorated by frames of pictures from every decade of Obito’s life. Sasuke assumes Kakashi’s a roommate or something because there is a man in several photographs he doesn’t quite recognize.

Obito helps jog his memory, “Do you remember my friend from High School? The one I’d get into fights with all the time?”

Sasuke’s eyes widen remembering, “Oh! Yeah, now that you say that I do remember him coming around to give homework assignments you missed that one summer you got really sick.”

A furtive smile graces the other man, it’s an expression Sasuke’s never seen on him, and the years apart could be to blame that he scarcely recognizes the man in front of him. There was a time Sasuke tailed all his cousins, found everything they had to say fascinating, stuck to their word like religion. He remembers how often Shisuui and Itachi took advantage of his pondering naivety, getting him to do things that resulted in his aunt or uncle having him by the ear.

Looking back now that version of him seems distant, virtually incomprehensible to his current self. He hasn’t idealized a person in that regard for so long. That’s part of growing up, though. You chip away parts of yourself to accommodate for all the growth, the maturity that adulthood is contingent upon, and in the process, it gets blurry picturing a version of you that existed not so long ago.

There’s no fun in being a grown-up. Sooner or later it’s a battle of responsibilities, bills and things you _need_ to do.

Sasuke can’t recall the last time he did something for himself. Obito teaches him how to cook a family recipe, it’s one only his mother used to make, okras and lots of onions and Sasuke helps to set the dinner table. He’s placing the napkins into the holder, getting the pitcher of water situated when he says, “You know I feel like I’ve been soliciting food out of everyone in this town since I’ve arrived.”

Obito glances over his shoulder quizzically, “Who else is feeding you?”

“Yesterday I had dinner with the Namikazes. Minato actually made beef tofu soup for me it was very nice.”

The older Uchiha also tacks on an honorific as Sasuke had, addressing the blonde man who’d welcomed him into his home, “He was my teacher! Kakashi and I’s, in fact. We’re still very close.”

“I’d say small town, but…” Sasuke laughs at his own joke.

Obito sets down the food, wiping his hands on the apron he’s wearing, “That’s a really good family. I love those kids like they’re my own.”

“Speaking of,” Sasuke gets himself some okra, dragging a few of the onions into his plate, “Why do they go by a different surname than their father? They look exactly like him so not adopted, then?”

“Oh,” Obito waits to plate food for himself, “That’s their mother’s maiden name. She never changed it and the kids took that.”

  
  
“Ah,” Sasuke takes in the information.

“She—” he starts but is interrupted at the sound of the front door clicking open, the puppies that had settled outside the kitchen run towards the sound. Another man near to his cousin’s age enters the house, chucking his shoes in a neat pile near the entrance before winding down into the kitchen. He only stops to grab the box of treats perched on the shelf of the kitchen counter to feed the dogs who drink up his attention.

“You’re back,” Obito’s lilt changes, Sasuke notices the dramatic shift because the only thing he could count on was his unimpeded rambles. This though has a curve of softness, Sasuke watches him get up to greet the other man.

Kakashi, Sasuke assumes this much, mirrors the tone, “Sorry work ran late.”

Everything is fine, casual until he drops a fleeting kiss to Obito’s temple. Sasuke’s hand freezes over his chopsticks. Obito picks up on the rapidly declining mood of his surroundings, keeping Kakashi at arm’s length, his eyes shiftily dart from the youngest Uchiha to the newest addition.

“Sasuke.”

Sasuke’s not a child, he could ruminate denial and chalk it up to a greeting between close friends, but Kakashi’s mild demeanor from earlier is replaced into a cautious sneer. Obito runs a hand through his lightly salted hair, the dark black peppered in white now, at his sides and a little in the back.

“I’m assuming your mother never told you,” he self-deprecatingly shuffles, but Kakashi’s wrapping a protective arm around his waist. “Kakashi and I—”

Sasuke raises a hand, “It’s fine. Don’t worry.”

Obito owlishly blinks, “What?”

“This isn’t something that bothers me so please don’t strain yourself.”

Kakashi speaks for the first time that night, “You understand our relationship, correct?”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, picking up his chopsticks, “This is hardly a matter of my opinion, but Toto I don’t care if you’re seeing a man. The food’s getting cold and that I _definitely_ care about so.”

Obito flushes happily, Sasuke can tell by how his chair drags closer to his younger cousin, “Thank you.”

“Toto?” Kakashi gets himself a plate, “Is that a nickname?”

“I couldn’t say Obito when I was a kid, so I called him toto,” Sasuke explains, “He was the only one who entertained me while Aya, Itachi, and Shisuui ran off to play.”

Kakashi props his chin on his palm, openly smiling at Obito, “Cute. May I call you _toto_?” The tone he adopts is sickeningly sweet, lancing with teasing.

Obito kicks him under the table, “You may not. Only Sasuke can.”

Sasuke smirks around a grilled veggie, “Sorry, cousin privileges.” Another question pops into his head, “Which reminds me, you’ve been speaking to mother?”

The aroma of the food permeates in the air, the okra is cooked to perfection, the tangy taste of pomegranate seed and onions mixing well with it. He fancies himself the pickled cucumber, waiting for a response, “Your parents, well, they were one of the few relatives who bothered keeping in contact after my folks passed away, aside from Madara, of course.”

He pours himself some water, Kakashi picks into Obito’s plate to take the snow peas, “She calls from time to time. It’s nice and she was one of the first people I told, I mean, it’s not like we can tell a lot of people. This is a small town, Sasuke, people love to talk even if they pretend, we’re closely knitted.”

Sasuke exhales, the whole situation sounds troubling, “Why didn’t you two move then? People in the city are far more tolerant of same-sex relationships. Sure, it’s still not a widely accepted thing, but. There are movements and people and—”

Kakashi says, “Uprooting takes a lot.”

Obito nods, “Besides, I’m happy here. _We’re_ happy here. A few gossipmongers won’t drive us out.”

If Sasuke had the option he rather live in a place where he could be comfortable with his identity, but he supposes to some people their place of birth is another faction of a person’s character. He went to university, he has friends from sexualities across the board, but their lifestyle or comfort could never be perfectly crafted in a small, narrow-minded town like Konoha. He tries to keep his discomfort in regard to the town at bay.

Instead, he offers uselessly, albeit genuine in nature, “If you are happy here then that’s all there is to it.”

Sasuke sits on the floor, photo albums dropped in his lap, splayed open to pictures on top of pictures of his childhood. Kakashi stepped away to take a shower, he’s a vet and apparently had to take care of a sick mare today. Obito is next to him, he excitedly reminisces every captured memory, “That’s when you fell off the bike. To be honest, to this day Itachi argues with me it wasn’t his fault, but he let you go too soon.”  
  


“I’m not crying,” Sasuke notices, he’s got a bandage on his knee and Obito’s has lifted him in his arms, “I feel like I should be crying. I still have the scar from it.”

Obito shrugs, “You were a happy kid. Hardly ever cried. If you fell down and hit your head or hurt yourself you got right back up, giving it another go. Aunty Mikoto would worry over you unnecessarily cause despite the battle wounds you’d be grinning.”

“Seems about right.”

“Itachi was here for Madara’s funeral. He tells me you haven’t changed much. The only thing that really gets you in a mood is hunger or him being an ass.”

“He is always an ass,” Sasuke deliberately corrects. “But I guess, I’m not sure I can be the judge of that.”

“Oh! That’s the one your first tooth came out. You ran around the house showing everyone and told Madara you better got at least a 100.”

Sasuke flushes at the reminder. Obito laughs, “You were such a swindler. You _knew_ that old man was sitting on a lifetime fortune.”

“I don’t understand why he left me with it,” Sasuke has been keeping this to himself, fingers tracing the picture of him in Madara’s lap throwing up a peace sign, Itachi next to them on the deck that stretches out of the veranda into the garden. “He hadn’t seen me in years. There are other people in this family who would want it more.”

“Is that why you’re getting rid of the place?” Obito pulls a knee into his chest, “Oh, don’t make that face you knew I was going to ask. The old man goes and dies and leaves the two of us with two of his most prized possession, so help me, if I am curious to ask why?”

“There is nothing there, Obito, nothing to salvage.” Sasuke closes the album, “Everything was done and dusted the second we all started splintering to different corners of the country. Uncle chose to stay here trying to cling to something that was already lost.”

“Do your folks still celebrate the new years as we used to?”

Sasuke blinks, “Yeah, we do a prayer. Mother is in charge, and she hosts a huge dinner and then the donations that go out. You know the rest.”

“How’s our culture dead if you still practice it so devotedly?”

He doesn’t have an answer to that, he sighs rubbing his eyes tiredly, “Madara hated this town.”

“No, he just hated the men who made it miserable to live here,” Obito clarifies. “Well, except Hashirama.”

“Hashirama!” Kakashi joins them, whopping the foreign name before sitting on the couch, pulling Obito to settle in the space between his legs, towel drying his grey hair, “What’d he say?”

“Obito, remember, all men are fraud except Hashirama. That’s a good man. Only good man!” Obito wags his finger and Sasuke laughs’ it’s perfectly identical to their deceased Uncle, even the accent he adopts is the same from the immaculate enunciation of the vowels to the weight of his voice. “The rest? Scheming half-wits!”

He then says, half-hearted attempt at changing Sasuke's mind, "It's changing though. This place. It's got some real good people."

“Speaking of, you know, who he _did_ love?” Kakashi ponders out loud.

“Naruto,” Obito supplies. “God, he loved that kid. He thought he was a riot.”

“Funny thing is he didn’t even pay mind to Karin or Minato or any of the rest of that family. But Naruto he would let climb over his 1000 thread count sheets and drag mud onto the pristine floors of his house. That kid had that old man’s heart.”

Obito gives him a nostalgic look, his eyes sink into the memory he’s reliving, “Only other kid beside you.”

“Yeah, he booted Obito out the second you guys left,” Kakashi snickers, Obito pinches his ankle. Sasuke doesn’t feel uncomfortable in their presence, their banter doesn’t bother him as couples usually can be.

Sasuke picks up the next album, opens it to the first page, and points at the image he stumbles upon, “When was this?”

>>>>

“About damn time, Uchiha,” Sakura grumbles over the line. Sasuke’s in his car again, driving back to his place. “We were starting to wonder if they got service out there in the boonies for your darling self.”

“Got carried away with the house and stuff, I’ve been meaning to call—text even.” Sasuke stops at a red light, the town is still fairly alive for how late it is. He’s surprised.

She shows no mercy, “What do I do to make you understand I worry?”

“Stop worrying, I’m fine. Knowing you, you already called mom to check in with her if I was alive.”

It’s quiet. “See?”

“Shut up,” she gruffly says, “Really hate how you know me so well.”

  
  
“Hrm.” Sasuke breaks into a quiet chuckle, it picks up when Sakura whines into the phone, rambling on and on about what a terrible human he is, “Are you done?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re lucky you caught me when I’m exhausted if I didn’t have a 14-hour shift I’d be giving you an earful.”

“If this is you tired…Then lord help—”  
  


“Hey!”

  
“I’m kidding. Stop worrying everything is completely fine and I should be home by Saturday latest.”  
  


“It’s a habit, Sasuke, I can’t break out of it only cause you said so. First as friends and then—well, you know. It’s hard.”

Sasuke feels a twinge of guilt rise up his throat, he laments the past, “You don’t have to play that role anymore. You know that, right?”

She laughs, hollow around the edges, “It’s not easy to move on.”

He would apologize, but Sakura would hate that. They’ve known each other for as long as he remembers, his life outside of Konoha has Sakura sketched into every scene, every memory, so it was natural for them to take the relationship into the next step. Sasuke’s never regretted anything more. They lost something when they decided to do so, and ever since it’s been a journey to recovery.

He parks his car, clicking it shut before moving to the front door. The lights are still on, one of the guys must’ve forgotten to turn them off, but even the door doesn’t have the latch on. Sasuke steps in with precaution, but his attention is still imparted equally to his friend.

“We’re best friends you don’t have to move too far,” he offers in peace and her laugh is watery. The twinge tightens. “Okay, then call this friend of yours more often, alright? She worries.”

“Okay, promise,” Naruto’s standing on a stepladder fixing the ceiling fan in the living room. Sasuke places his keys into the bowl on the table next to the worn-in couch.

The blonde spares him a glance, Sakura says, “I miss you. Text me anytime, alright? Shikamaru’s been asking for you too. And you know him he’s allergic to phones.”

“Alright, I’ll give him a call,” Sasuke assures, “I miss you too.”

“I’m gonna go before I pass out on the bathroom floor, take care,” and with that, she hangs up. Sasuke slips his phone back into his pants and clears his throat.

Naruto assents to the demand, “Girlfriend?”

“Uh,” Sasuke is stumped at the question, he collects his thoughts, “No, no. Friend.”

“Ah,” Naruto doesn’t say anything else.

“Why are you still here? Suigetsu said you guys don’t work past nine and it’s nearing midnight?” Sasuke tries to sound cordial, he’s beginning to understand how his behavior has been coming off and although he’s never cared what people think of him, he doesn’t want to exchange any more verbal ammunition with Naruto. The man clearly is well-liked around town. Sasuke ought to get his foot out of his own ass and give the guy a chance.

Naruto climbs down the ladder, hand resting on his hip, “There were a few things I needed to take care of. The circuit kept tripping again once you left so I fixed that, it’s cause of the wiring but for now the living room should still have power even if the rest of the house goes out.”

Sasuke then notices Naruto had fixed the odd jobs around the room, and the kitchen, if the toolbox spread open is any indication. This also signifies him knowing that Sasuke’s been sleeping in the living room as opposed to one of the many bedrooms.

“Thank you, but you could’ve done this tomorrow, too, right?”

Naruto nods, “I was worried the power will go out again and you’d have to sleep without a fan. Oh, right we fixed the mold in the room Jūgo told you about. Thankfully, it was fully isolated, and we’ve started re-working the floors in the adjacent room, they’re about 75% done. We’ll do the living room last.”

Sasuke’s jaw itches to drop at how much work the man got done in the few hours he was gone, it’s only fair he says what he says next, “I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” Naruto picks up his water from the floor, he twiddles with the cap, “What for?”

“For being an ass this morning—I shouldn’t have yelled at you—”

“No, it’s fine I should’ve told you I was fixing the leak at the clinic—”

“What?” Sasuke stops, a horrible realization dawning on him, “Were you late because you were helping elsewhere?”

Naruto offers a gummy smile. Okay, now he successfully feels like a proper ass. He scrubs a tired hand down his face, “I’m an asshole.”

The blonde laughs, it’s a nice sound he finds himself thinking, not as loud as the first time they’d met, “Don’t worry, bro. I know what it looked like when I showed up late. But for the record, I don’t get hungover and I _especially_ don’t slack off at work.”

“The coffee?”

“Oh, one of the nurses thinks I’m cute so,” he blushes and grins all the same.

Sasuke huffs at that, “You’re quite the stud around here.”

Naruto wheezes into a choke, the water he was swallowing goes down the wrong pipe, “Christ, no. They’re just—shut up did you talk to my sister?”

Shrugging he moves towards the corridor to the other rooms, “She may have mentioned something.”

“Don’t listen to a word she says, she’s a gossip!”

“Uh-huh. So, you said I should check the rooms?”  
  


Naruto wipes his mouth on the sleeve of his flannel, a wet stain blooming on the orange fabric, “Yeah, I am going to finish here and then head out once you think everything’s fine.”  
  


“Alright, be right back then.”

On his way to the room, Sasuke passes the master bedroom. The door is unhooked from keyhole and it’s the only place in the entire house he hasn’t ventured into. Reflexively he pushes the sliding doors, stepping inside to see disheveled sheets over the bed, a large cherry wood dresser, a desk, and chair swamped in stacks of books. He steps inside going through the knickknacks decorating the shelf and then takes in the pictures on the dresser.

There is one of him, the same picture he’d seen at Obito’s but in this one, Itachi isn’t next to Madara. It’s just a visibly toothless Sasuke holding up two fingers seated in his great uncle’s lap. Madara is smiling all the way up to his eyes. There shouldn’t be any reason for the old house to cave in at that moment, but right then it collapses around Sasuke soundly. It purports its principal feature which was the antiquity that was stamped into every defect of the structure. In the forgotten nooks of dilapidation, Sasuke could see the past weaved around the discolored walls, the termite-bitten wood, the sunken floors.

This room stood as a testament to disprove that age, to pale the gaunt decay of the foundations it stood on because in this room life coursed in the way the sheets were ruffled; then there were the pictures; the ink that had yet to dry under the tip of the pen; the fading scent of jasmine flowers that sat on the dresser pretending to be potpourri.

Sasuke’s chest cinches, it’s like a battering that finally gets through the door that’s barely stuck to the hinges, and everything comes back—the memories, the childhood, his father’s china cups they drank tea in one’s he found the first night he was here, Madara’s sharp quips, his own feet solid on the floor thudding recklessly, relentlessly.

Naruto knocks on the door, the dim light stretching into the hallway drowns his already tan skin into a honey glow, “Did you check the floors…?”

He blinks, some more, there is wetness that hides behind the poor lighting of Madara’s bedroom, “No. Change of plans.”

“What’s wrong?” Naruto’s brows draw together.

Sasuke sets down the frame on the dresser, he asks, “Do you still have the original plans for this place’s restoration? How long did you say it will take again?”

“Yeah, they should be in my truck. And about three months, if not more. Less than four though. Why?”

He breathes in clean air, the hint of jasmine tickling the back of his throat, “We should fix the house. The whole thing, I mean.”  
  


Naruto’s mouth parts open in disbelief, “You really mean it?”

“It’s the right thing to do, after all. It’s what he’d have wanted.”

It is. He decides for himself. It’s longer than planned, and not the original one at all, but this is the right way to do this. The house deserves this much. After all this time, it’s the least he can do.


	2. ii.

Sasuke lets his thighs bear his weight, it’s the right posture because he’s pretty sure he read somewhere if you put it on your knees they can weaken over time. The wooden post dug into the ground wiggles at the first tug, it was a light pull on his behalf. Once he’s satisfied it’s loose around the dirt, Sasuke yanks the old thing from the ground and tosses it aside towards the back.

“Watch it, dude!” Sasuke breathes deeply, the sweltering heat makes his thin cotton shirt stick to his chest, it’s drenched around the small of his back, but this is the last post he has to change before the fence is done. The barbwire knotted around the brace is clipped so it can be looped around the new one.

Sasuke accepts the cold-water bottle Suigetsu is thrusting in his face, “Thanks. Are you guys done with the porch?”

Suigetsu clucks sharply, scratching his elbow, “Nah, we still need to make sure the pillar holding up the awning is secure before we completely remove the boards. But one of the rooms is completely done so that’s some progress. Naruto says he wants to focus on fixing the pond, but I told him that could be last. What do you think?”

“If you’re going to do the veranda might as well do the yard, don’t you think?” Sasuke sits on the toolbox.

“But what about the storehouse?” Suigetsu brings his attention to the Kura behind the main house, Sasuke uses a hand as a visor to shield from the unrelenting rays, the charcoal grey, concrete shed stands debased over a rapidly putrefying foundation. “Thought we can get it out of the way so then only the inside of the house is left. You did the fencing all by yourself anyway.”

“I’ll fix the storehouse, I need to move a lot of the storage items either back into the house or get rid of them entirely, so it’ll give me a chance to peruse through everything. How’s that?”

Suigetsu shrugs indolent, “You’re the boss.”

“Cool—I can get to it at the end of the week after I look at Madara’s—” He pauses because a medium-sized golden retriever, light-golden and crème coat of hair, tackles into his knee, maneuvering until it’s climbing between his legs that are spread open. He pushes up his heart-shaped nose into the back of Sasuke’s palm, demanding attention unabashedly.

Naruto calls after him, short of breath, “Oi, Kuruma! Stop running away!”

“Your dogs taken to the pretty boy, Nart,” Suigetsu jokes as his best friend leans to catch his breath, resting his forearm on the white-haired man’s shoulder, “Look at him, slobbering for attention. Traitor.”

Sasuke smiles at the puppy that’s lavishing his attention, turning his hand so the raven can properly scratch behind his ears, “I don’t mind keeping him.”

“Not for sale,” Naruto manages. “He’s my _best_ friend. You can’t take him.”

Suigetsu elbows him, “I’m your best friend, dickwad.”

“Eh,” Naruto replies and gets a thwack to his shoulder that he takes like a man. Sasuke’s too busy preening the dog that’s evidently chosen him as his favorite. “Did you guys want to get lunch? I’m starving.”

“Man, I’m tired of going to Mcdonald’s every break either shell cash for real food or I’m going to start stealing from your fridge again.”

Naruto bites Suigetsu’s shoulder, “That’s my dad’s fridge and you know he’s busy with school again.”

“Boys!!” Karin hollers from near the driveway.

Suigetsu squints, “Oh god. What is she doing here?”

Kurama sees the girl and passes the men to prance towards her, tail wagging, tongue lolling at the side of his panting mouth. She bends down with open arms to accept the slobbery kisses the puppy offers her, the dog sniffing around her neck.

Sasuke vaguely comments, “Well, I guess we know who’s his favorite.”

Naruto sighs disappointedly, and Suigetsu shakes his head, “Your dogs’ a right bastard, man. Look at that piece of shit.”

The blonde kicks at his shin and Suigetsu yowls. Sasuke erupts into a laugh, Naruto glancing back throwing an unimpressed glare, “Oh, you, shut up!”

“What did I do?” Sasuke raises his hands in amity.  
  


Sasuke finishes hammering in the last post, and they stumble towards Karin who’s made herself comfortable on the hard ground of the driveway, ruffling the dog’s heavy coat of hair, squeezing the dog around the cheeks.

Naruto scratches his head, “Why are you here didn’t you have a shift at the clinic?”

“I brought food,” she coos at the dog. Strictly exchanging eye contact with Sasuke only, “”m sure you’re hungry, right, Sas?”

Suigetsu squawks offensively, “Don’t be so informal!” So far, everyone in the group has been addressing him with honorifics barring Suigetsu, Naruto and Karin. Hypocritically evading the fact that the sharp-tooth fella hasn’t heeded to his own advice since the very start.

“Why not? We’re friends?” Karin says positively sure, “Right, Sasuke?”

Naruto pins him down with an impressive frown, it’s got the fresh face look of his sagging. Sasuke keeps eye contact, “Yes.”

“And so are we,” Suigetsu slithers an arm across his shoulder, too hot for the body to body touch, but Sasuke smiles at his admission. He likes him so he can’t say he’s too bothered about the outcome.

The blonde mumbles under his breath, “I feel left out.”

“Don’t pout, Nart, it’s unflattering,” Karin chides, and Naruto whines fruitlessly, “Dad packed ramen so unless—”

Naruto’s out of earshot, racing to the car to gather the food for the crew, “I call first dibs on three bowls!”

“Oi! You ramen vacuum the rest of us gotta eat too!” chasing after his best friend.

Sasuke watches after them. He’s not particularly looking forward to warm soup in this heat. Karin flicks against his exposed knee, he tips his head down, “Got you a sandwich and lemon green iced tea.”

“Thanks,” he smiles.

>>>>

Initially, the plan had been to get the house fixed, put it on the market for sale and head back home. Prospective buyers could always contact him through the contractor, and he could’ve come down over the weekend to close the deal. That didn’t pan out as he intended though, it’s funny the more desperate he was to get away from this place, the easier it became to sink into it. Sasuke didn’t get a chance, it happened so fast, only over the span of the weekend, and his entire disposition in regard to the house changed.

There is a running joke in his immediate family that moderation has never touched the youngest Uchiha, it’s one of those things that go right over his head whether he tries to practice it or not. Sasuke doesn’t see the purpose in doing things half-heartedly, he was told he had to learn the piano in elementary school so he perfected it simply cause he _had_ to, it was the same with his grades—it wasn’t that his parents had unfeasible expectations out of him, he didn’t like being second best when he could be the best. People often mistake it for arrogance, and he can understand why he’s perceived that way, but he’s never been someone who seeks approval of himself in others. He’s comfortable about who he is and the decisions he makes.

That’s why once he realized this house still held importance to him, more than he’d given it credit for, he wanted to give it justice the right way.

“So, you’ve decided to spend the summer there?” Mikoto affirms what he’s told her.

There is a faint hammering in the background, Sasuke can see Jūgo working on the ceiling, they’d initially thought redoing the wall would be time-consuming because it’s loadbearing. But Naruto and the others’ found a way around it, “Yeah, everything should be complete by August.”

“Are you redoing every room?” Mikoto asks, a titling whistle coming through the speakers. It’s enough to spur Sasuke into action, navigating into the kitchen to grab the kettle that’s drying on the rack and filling it to the brim with water.

He chooses sencha green tea this time. “Basically. Uncle’s room is fine for the most part, it’s the locked ones that haven’t been used in a bit that need the most tending to.”  
  


“How’s everything else? Have you made friends?”

“Mother,” Sasuke watches the kettle, the wisp of steam dissipates in the air. “I’m here for work.”

“Where does it say you can’t make friends at work?”

Sasuke can’t find a fallacy in that logic. He cautiously says, knowing perfectly well that his mother might not be one to openly pry but her curious keep prickling until satisfied, “The crew have been pretty welcoming. These guys are born and raised here or lived here for a while, so the house has personal asset for them.”

Also remembering, he mentions, “Saw Obito too. He told me you call him once every two weeks, that’s nice.”

“Oh gosh! How is he? It’s been a few months since the funeral.” She gushes into his ear about how they talk from time to time, but it’s been a while since she actually saw him, “I miss Konoha. I didn’t get the chance to see around when Itachi and I drove down, but even then I could tell a lot had changed. I’d love to see his farm. Him and Kaka—his roommate—”

Sasuke bites a laugh at his mother’s slip-up, “I know, mother. I met him. Kakashi. He seems nice.”

“He does, doesn’t he? He makes your cousin very happy.”

“I could tell.”

“Sometimes that’s all that’s needed,” she sounds faraway when she says that, Sasuke listens to the cocooning silence between them.

“Still with me, mom?”

“Yeah, yeah. When are you going to settle down?”

Sasuke croaks an unpleasant sound, it’s his least favorite topic, he’s twenty-four for Christ’s sake, “We’ve talked about this.”

“We can talk some more?”

“I don’t think so,” he carries his now steaming mug to the living room, the hammering has stopped and from the window, he can peer at the men taking a short break. The sky is still yellowy syrup under the unforgiving heat. “How are your new projects doing?”

Mikoto squawks in a complaint, “The bamboo refuses to stay alive, Sasuke! I’m telling you, your mother can’t keep a single houseplant alive. This is worse than the lilies incident.”

Sasuke guffaws at her defeated gripes, “Have you considered taking up a new hobby? It’s about time you stop terrorizing these poor plants.”

“I raised you I can raise a damn bamboo too!”

Later he stands in front of the shoji door that’s got holes punctured through the screen, Kiba is next to him and he shows him each spot, “You can help with these, it gets the rooms being done a lot faster; then we can put all our time in the drainage, plumbing and the works.”

“Do I take them off the tracks?” Sasuke grips one of the panels and tugs it up from the grooves on the track, it jostles before sliding out from the gaps.

Kiba moves the supplies into the room as they carefully set down the door, “You’ve replaced a screen before, right?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke kneels down, “I’ll take care of it.”

The brunette walks out after that. Sasuke uncaps the soluble soap mix that comes with a sponge, wetting the paper everywhere it touches the frame and waits until the glue is completely dissolved. He slowly and evenly pulls the paper off the screen, it gets stuck around the middle, so he pours more of the solution there, but eventually, the sheet slides off in one swift movement.

There are residual glue and paper at the joints of the door, in the corners, but he’s got a scrapper buried in the toolbox that easily scratches off the excess. He unfurls the roll of paper and clamps it around the edges, so it doesn’t move, pulling it firmly so the paper is pulled down flat and tight. He glues it down as he goes, but he’s clearly out of practice, his apartment has conventional doors so does their home. He’d forgotten how extenuating the task can be.

The paper keeps slipping from his grasp while he’s setting the glue, it frustrates him because this is easily a one-person job but being out of practice is halting his progress. At one point he applies too much tension to his pull that the paper rips around his grasp.

“Fuck,” he hisses, there is glue drying around his fingertips which makes the sheet stick. Sasuke tugs the pieces and looks at how the sheet is now ripped at an angle making the section he’d chosen useless. Sasuke gets up to see if he can get a better angle but every time, he tries to simultaneously glue and pull the sheet it slips from his clasp.

On his third try, there is a knock on the single hanging door, Naruto is half covered behind the shoji, “Did you need help?”

Sasuke explains, “I know for a fact this can be done by one person but for some reason every time I try to pat down the glue and pull, it keeps loosening or wrinkling around the center.” He glances back ruefully staring at the ripped piece, “Worst case scenario, it rips.”

Naruto tugs off his boots at the entrance, jumping around all the material laid around the room to join on Sasuke’s side, “You pull, I’ll glue it down.”

“It’s been a minute since I last did this,” he clarifies. “We used to replace these all time when I was younger; Shisui and Aya had a bad habit of poking holes into the screen. One time they deceived me into their mess, and we ended up destroying the screen to Uncle’s room.”

The blonde stares up at him at the new information, he’s twisting the cap of the glue, but the striking surprise quickly dissolves into a smile. Sasuke notices it so he asks, “What?”

“That’s the first voluntary piece of personal information you’ve shared since you got here. I don’t even know a Shisui or Aya, but.” Naruto shrugs half a shoulder like he’s not entirely interested in what they’re discussing except his eyes say the treasure of knowledge made him happy, “You kinda keep to yourself even when you’re helping around the house. That’s why I was surprised when you easily gave in to my sister’s whims.”

Sasuke holds his mouth in a neutral line, “My mother says I should make friends.”

Naruto laughs from the chest, “Do you always listen to what your mother says?”

“Don’t we all?” Sasuke laughs too, it’s comfortable under the buttery lighting of the room, “For the record, your sister imposed her whims on me. It’s hard to ignore such a tenacious person.”

“Big words,” Naruto wiggles his brows, and Sasuke snorts, “So, did you get in trouble?”

Sasuke perfuses confusion, “Huh?”

“When you destroyed Old Man’s door?”

“Oh!” Sasuke dives into dusting an old tale. He discovers as he weaves Naruto through one story of the door coming off its hinges and the screen puncturing spottily because his cousin was a menace, and another about the time Madara made the kids sleep in the veranda because they were ungrateful brats and Sasuke was allowed into the house only one hour into his punishment—he discovers that he’s never shared this, and that, and this too.

The door is long forgotten, Naruto’s legs are crossed and he is waving a hand recalling the time he got detention for mixing dye into the soap-buckets they used to mop the floors of his middle school, “That was my third warning of the year and they sent a red slip home, Sasuke. You know how many kids got a red slip in my year?”

“How many?” Sasuke entertains even though he can take a guess.

Naruto holds up one finger. There are tears pricking around Sasuke’s eyes because they’ve been at it for hours, trouble children in the record of anyone who’s had the pleasure of knowing them, but Madara’s favorite—maybe, that’s why. “I ran away! I didn’t want to go home because I thought they’d give me the boot and I’d have to work on the farms. Sasuke I hate the smell of manure you don’t understand.”

“I can try to understand,” Sasuke genuinely offers and Naruto grins wide. “He let you stay?”

“He got me ramen from Ichiraku’s and put on Jumanji. Didn’t even call my dad, he said it’s fine he’ll know.  
  
“Did he?”

“Dad always knew,” Naruto shies over the admission, playing with the threads fissuring from the ends of his jeans, the worn ones that are loose and faded. He snaps the blue fiber, “I miss him, the old man, I mean.”

Sasuke nods, stretching out one of his legs, one knee hugged to his chest, “Me too.”

“What the heck?” Suigetsu tumbles into the doorway, “Did you guys finish _anything_? It’s dinner time, Naruto!”

Naruto’s eyes widen he pushes up the sleeve to his flannel, a shabby watch slapped around his wrist, “Oh god, it’s eight.” Sasuke has a parting second of mortification that they really wasted the past three hours doing nothing, Naruto’s blue eyes dart up, he snickers, “Guess we got carried away.”

“Did y’all have a bonding session? Also, why does it reek in here?”

Light eyes widen nervously, “Oh shit!”

“Did you really spill the dissolving solution? Oi, doofus, can you do anything?”

Sasuke gets up to grabs the paper towels to clean and Suigetsu unleashes a bout of rants and Naruto struggles to fix the sheet they’d been working.

Defeatedly the white-haired man departs leaving them to clean their mess, Sasuke pulls on the sheet as Naruto glues it down. Once they’ve patted the paper dry, cut it the right amount and folded it into the proper crevices. Sasuke falls back on the palm of his hand, wiping at his forehead, “That was exhausting.”

“Only six more doors to go,” Naruto glumly informs.

Sasuke groans, “Thanks for helping though.”

“My pleasure.”

“You should go eat now, it’s getting late and we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow too. The floors need to be started.”

Naruto nods, he’s gathering the tools into a neat pile in the corner while Sasuke busies himself rolling up the extra sheet for the rest of the doors. He props it against the wall. Naruto walks to him, “Okay, I’ll head out.”

Sasuke faces him to bid goodbye, but the blonde’s brows dip into a brewing smile. “What?”

“You’ve got—” he vaguely points to his forehead.

He taps his temple to see if he’s got glue or paper or something stuck on his face, “Got it?”

“No,” Naruto titters reaching out to touch him lightly, feather-like press, and peels the paper stuck on the side of his forehead. “Got it.”

Sasuke notices at this distance of closeness the color of Naruto’s eyes, he’d assumed they’d be the same icy blue as his father—they’re not.

Naruto holds his gaze, sparing a second to study his face, it could be Sasuke’s imagination, but he instinctively indulges in the breath of pause.

They’re blue, they’re a summer storm, his eyes a vivacious décor in shades Sasuke’s never seen before.

That’s the first thing he notices about Naruto Uzumaki; eight days and twenty-some hours later, he notices.

(He never stops noticing there on out.)

>>>>

There is an old saying: Don’t count your chickens before the eggs have hatched.

Naruto has evidently not heard of it. “It’ll work.”

Obito shivers miserably next to Sasuke, he’s in a thin sky-blue shirt, khaki shorts, while they’re standing in the deep freezer of the local grocery store. Sasuke doesn’t want to think about how he got roped into this, but he does offer, in unison to his cousin, “It won’t work.”

Naruto’s got one foot wedged between a box of frozen salmon gyozas and frozen edamame on the precariously balanced u-boat, “It’ll work!”

The fridge door opens behind them right as Naruto’s clasping his fingers around a box labeled ‘fresh sea bass’, “Uzumaki!”

Naruto slips at the sudden voice and falls back, foot skidding under the boat and shoulder knocking into Sasuke. He’s not quick though because the man falls heavily on his ass. He mutters a quiet _fuck_.

Tsume twists his ear outside, it’s rapidly turning a punch red and Naruto’s incessant _ow ow ow_ are going deaf to the local customers perusing through the store. Obito guiltily hangs at his side, but Sasuke’s taken to reading the labels of the different oil assortments.

“How many times will I tell you that you can’t walk around the place like you own it?”

“Oh come’on, Tsume, I’m part of the family.”

“Part of the family my foot,” she twists his lobe around and another series of _ow ow ow_. “You rascal you’re always getting Kiba into your shit too. Now you’ve got the new boy to do your bidding as well!”

She expectantly looks at Sasuke, he replies, “Yes.”

“No!” Naruto frowns, “Sasuke, I thought we were friends!”

They are.

Tsume ignores his whines, “Don’t drag him into this. And you, Obito!”  
  


Obito winces, “To be fair, he had a reason this time.”

“Yeah!!” Naruto robustly agrees, “Homura’s son has it out for me auntie, he _knows_ I’m the one who buys fish every third Friday and he still told me you guys ran out. I know you order some special for me!”

Tsume gives him a narrow glare before releasing his abused ear, Naruto continues his wail of injustices inflicted upon him, “You know he hates me. Why’d you hire him? How could you do this to the son you never had? A little more faith goes a long way!”

“Oi,” Kiba hollers from where he’s picking bell peppers, “I’m right here.”  
  


Naruto sticks out his tongue childishly, too old for someone his age—it bubbles a laugh up Sasuke’s throat. Tsume massages her temples and sighs gravely, “You boys are going to send me into an early death.”

Naruto easily slips an arm over her shoulder, cuddling her into his side, “Never. I’d tend to all your sickly demands.”

Obito shakes his head, he’s moving towards their wagon helping Kiba rifle through the list of groceries they need meanwhile Tsume grabs Naruto’s chin, pinching his face, “You’re lucky you’re Minato’s son.”

The blonde says scandalously, “Auntie what would Mr. Inuzaka say about you looking at other men?”

Kiba chucks a potato at him across the store. Naruto nearly gets hit and runs from Tsume’s lecturing, her cheeks flaming, Sasuke joins his cousin, “Is he always like this?”

Obito stops checking the firmness of the tomatoes and watches Naruto laugh into Kiba’s shoulder. “Yeah, ever since he was young.”

“He’s stupid,” Sasuke drops a few lemons in a produce bag. Obito shrugs, laughing, “Plenty.”  
  


The four of them prepare the fish and the meat for a barbeque at Obito’s. Suigetsu joins an hour later than the rest because he had some last-minute errands to take care of. Over the grill, Naruto’s perfectly seasoned fish permeates a tantalizing aroma, he’s got a _kiss the chef_ apron on, and tongs in one hand—his mostly done beer in another. Obito takes care of the sides, and Suigetsu goes over budgeting with Sasuke before they segue into the banal conversation.

The men take the piss out of picking on Naruto who quacks vainly, bragging that his fish will be better than the meat Suigetsu swears on being divine. The white-haired man explains around his third drink, “It’s never good. He always forgets something; salt, pepper, sometimes lemon. But he builds it up so much all through the afternoon that we take pity on him and share the rest of the food with him.”

Sasuke is amused at how much camaraderie is between everyone, Obito joins him in the lawn chair, “I’m glad you’re here.”

“What do you mean?”  
  


He squeezes his knee, “I feel like I missed out on your best years, I was the oldest I was supposed to teach you things like this, y’know?” He tips his bottle where Naruto’s arguing with Kiba, “I taught him how to grill and I could’ve taught you too.”

Sasuke nods, appreciating the sentiment, he decides to offer one in return, “There is still a lot you can teach me. I’m sure we can think of something.”

Obito smiles.

Naruto sticks his tongue out, Suigetsu pushes his face, “Fuck off, you’re pissed.”

“Then take me homeeeee,” Naruto whines a little. Kakashi sneakily extracts the bottle his fingers are wrapped around. Naruto still catches him, “No!”

“I think we’ve had enough, Nart,” he gently prods and after a smidge of resistance, Naruto concedes the alcohol over.

“Lightweight,” Sasuke snorts.

Naruto’s ears quiver like a cat, “Hey! I can drink you under the table!”

“You can hardly stand on your two feet much less handle your alcohol,” Sasuke’s bones feel loose, he’s finally settling into his surroundings so it’s becoming easier to peel down to his natural disposition.

Naruto staggers towards him, his foot hits the couch, and he yowls, but valiantly comes to drop next to him. Suigetsu smacks a hand on his forehead.

“You think you’re hot shit, Uchiha?”

Sasuke arches a brow, “What does that have to do with your current inability to function?”

Naruto blubbers like a fish out of water, “All these big words and I still don’t see you taking me on! C’mon! I bet I can down more shots than you. Suigetsu get me the whiskey.”

“Suigetsu is _leaving_ ,” the said man gets up. Naruto turns to him in offense, “What kinda best friend are you?”

“Smart one,” he grins disappearing into the kitchen.

Kakashi settles into the loveseat opposite to them and Obito flops into his side. Sasuke blinks and Obito supplies, “They all know.” That settles soundly into Sasuke’s chest. Everyone currently in this house is worth Obito’s trust. It’s a good feeling.  
  


Naruto still not done though, he snags a bottle from Kiba who’s distracted by the dogs, “Ha! Let’s go, Sas. Want to see what your city boy liver can hold.”  
  


Sasuke’s eye twitches. “Fine, whatever.”

It’s a stupid decision. Sasuke’s not used to making stupid decisions. But Naruto’s stupidity is unassumingly infectious. He throws back a shot after shot while Suigetsu howls into peals of laughter, Kakashi is pinching his nose in vague disappointment and Obito is just happy at the sight before him. Kiba joins them when Naruto’s words are slurring into unintelligible rubbish.

Sasuke puts down his glass, licking his mouth clean, “Win.” He enunciates, “I win.” Naruto’s on the floor his face pressed into the carpet next to the coffee table, and he’s frowning.

He’s drunk. Sasuke’s drunk as well. He can tell he’s drunk. His body feels the drag as if gravity has cranked up a dial and he’s mirroring the other man, lying down on his side. Naruto’s face is in his, turned upside because his legs are stretched in the other direction to Sasuke’s.

“F’ck you,” he slurs, “still can’t fix a do’r.”

Sasuke’s brows furrow and Naruto cracks one eye open to grin at him. The drunkenness bubbles pleasantly in his chest and he smirks back. They both end up puking their guts out.

Kakashi kicks them out near the barn because he refuses to have his house smelling like their foul vomit.

Suigetsu drags Naruto his car and Kiba helps up Sasuke. Naruto heavily rests into his best friend, “Tis’ was fun!”

Sasuke nods, head feeling like he’s carrying two people’s weight. Kiba laughs, “God, you two are going to be useless tomorrow.”

“Remind us to never mix these two with whiskey.”

Naruto peeps over the leather of his passenger seat, Sasuke’s propped against the door in the back. In the blurry haze of inebriation, the darkness does little to what he sees, Naruto’s blue eyes stand out. Sasuke returns the gaze. He watches the gleam melt into something else, softer and tangible, a press around Naruto’s cheeks, his forehead, his lips—that are marginally parted.

Sasuke closes his eyes and lulls to the sound of Suigetsu’s engine revving to life, the pale moonlight thawing past the glass panes, and the night whispers into a gentle hum.

>>>>

Naruto coyly offers him the largest size of those iced coffee drinks that are 60% sugar and 30% caffeine, Sasuke’s head hurts from the summer heatwave, from his hangover, and the knot in his back doesn’t help the whole situation either.

  
“Peace offering,” he says, kicking the heel of his boots into the floor, “Because I got you shit-faced.”

Sasuke corrects him smugly, “And I still fared better in the end. If I recall.”

“Yeah, yeah, you win, there’s plenty left for me to show you up in,” Naruto’s wearing a pink t-shirt, it complements the peachy glow glistening over the tan of his skin.

Sasuke has no self-preservation clearly, “Kiba mentioned there is a creek.”  
  


Jūgo who’s lifting the floorboards to the kitchen, throws an awry look towards the raven-haired man. Sasuke picks up on it, “What?”

“You don’t want to take Naruto out there.”

“Take Naruto out where?” Suigetsu’s holding the blueprint in his hands, a pen tucked behind his ear, “Where we goin’?”

Naruto grins self-contentedly, thumping Sasuke’s chest with a closed fist, “Sas wants to go out to the creek.”  
  
Suigetsu’s face lights like a child on Christmas day, “Fuck yeah!”

“Every time we go there Naruto gets written up for something,” Jūgo sighs a thousand people’s plight in that one breath, “And every time _I_ have to be the one to get him out of it.”

“That’s because you’re the only one who feels bad enough,” Suigetsu deadpans because apparently it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Jūgo flips him off.

Sasuke tries to steer the conversation back, “So, the creek.”

“More of a lake than a creek,” Naruto justifies, his dark brows hike in a wriggling motion, “Let’s take a day.”

Kiba must’ve overhead because he passes Jūgo the claw hammer he went to search for earlier, the bigger man takes it easily, and inputs, “Let's invite the girls too.”  
  


“Is this you trying to get with Hinata again cause man—” Suigestu trials, and Kiba knocks him in the spine.

Naruto claps his hands together, “Sunday! Karin doesn’t have clinic she’d have my ear if I didn’t do it on a day, she’s free.”

“Then it’s decided,” Sasuke agrees, “Sunday.”

Sasuke stands ten paces from the murmuring water of the creek, the rocks touching the downstream steady and spaced sporadically across the decently wide waterbed. The surrounding forestry canopies the little alcove; they’re stationed near the low-height rapid that extends down a few miles before—at a bleary distance from him—it sinks into a larger body of water, the lake as Naruto had aforementioned.

When they left the town it was prickling warm, but here the heat diffuses due to the cool stream, the shade further bringing the temperature down to comfortable—a touch nippy, even. The water isn’t deep, it’s crisp and splashes against the soft moss and algae around the rocks smoothened by the constant swathing.

Kiba gets in first, his dog Akamaru happily bounds after tagging Kurama along who frolics in the cold, comfortable water. They’ve all discarded their shoes and bags next to a picnic blanket and basket they’ve set out.

“Oi, Naruto, wear sunscreen!” Karin tosses a bottle at the blonde who whines, “What’s the point! I can’t get a sunburn!”

“That’s not what it’s for,” Sasuke comments, the blonde narrows his eyes at him, “It’s to protect you from—”

“Don’t bother the uneducated oaf won’t listen,” Kiba wheezes from the stream, he’s wiping the water out of his eyes. Suigetsu jumps in too, happily swimming to the deeper end. The current isn’t strong enough for them to be drafted towards the basin.

Naruto’s deaf to their teasing since he’s focusing on picking a squabble with him, “I don’t see you putting any smartass.”

“Because I put some before, I left the house, dumbass.”

Naruto’s nostrils flare in offense, but he steps forward to check for himself, if him sniffing Sasuke is any indication. He frowns, “I don’t smell anything.”

Sasuke replies, “I don’t like the scented ones.”

_I don’t like the scented ones_ Naruto mimics back childishly, however, he does concede by lathering himself in a whitecasting lotion that does leave behind a glisten over his naturally brown skin.

Sasuke laughs at him when he can’t get a spot behind his shoulder. If looks could kill Sasuke would be strangled into death. The blonde fusses and asks for Jūgo’s assistance.

A few moments later, Sasuke hears from behind him, half-earnestly invested in a conversation with Kiba, “Hey Sasuke can you swim?”

“Yeah, why?”

There is a strong push in-between his shoulder blades. Sasuke grew up around four older siblings—three cousins and one brother—he knows what to expect. So, lucky for him instead of losing balance he wedges his foot between two uneven rocks but reaches back to tug the arm of the perpetrator. Unlucky for Naruto, unlike he’d intended, he’s the one pushed into the creek, headfirst.

The water is deep enough that Sasuke knows the loser wouldn’t hit his head. When he comes up, spitting a clear fountain of water, his brows are scrunched, and his hair is sloppy wet over his forehead. He’s the picture of his wet dog that swims next to him, barking for attention.

“How’d you know!” Naruto points accusingly, curling an arm around the puppy to scratch into his wet coat.

Sasuke smirks, and shrugs, “I’m the youngest of the biggest family on this side of town. Did you think I don’t know that trick?”

“Fuck you,” Naruto’s bite loses heat because it turns into a pout, “Give me a hand, I’m gonna get Kurama a treat.”

Sasuke unassumingly offers assistance, arching over the edge of the bank. Naruto slides his palm into Sasuke’s. The grip is tight; steady. Sasuke’s crouching low enough that he’s right over Naruto’s face. Perhaps the surroundings add to the cobalt blitzing around Naruto’s pupil, but it intensifies, if they were meant to camouflage into the crystal-clear water, they fail outstandingly. They shine, they burn even though that’s never asked of the ocean.

It’s his fault for not paying attention. Naruto pulls him in by the drag of his hand. Sasuke falls into the water, t-shirt still on and swimming shorts pulled to his hips. He breaks out of the water to a laughing sound, Naruto’s shoulders’ shaking, “All those years to learn and you still fell for this one?”

Sasuke wipes a hand over his face and lunges at Naruto. The blonde struggles out of his grasp, laughing and Sasuke’s laughing now too because the sound Naruto expels is contagious. Suigetsu howls at them, “Get him, Sasuke!”

Naruto dunks his head into the water, and Sasuke takes him with. The force he puts on the other’s shoulders allows the water to sway them closer, Naruto’s knee knocks into his thigh and Sasuke’s hand slips from its grip. He uncomfortably opens his eyes, mouth puffed close to hold his breath, and Naruto’s got a hook around the curve of his right elbow.

He’s staring right back. There is a trace of mirth pricking the deep sea of his eyes. Even under the surface of the creek, the blue stands out. They come up for air together, Sasuke’s shirt weighs heavily over his torso, and Naruto shakes his head like a wet dog, getting rid of the water from his eyes. Sasuke runs a hand to push back his hair.

Naruto grins, stupidly brilliant, “Bastard.”

Sasuke’s voice comes from the bell of his chest, “Idiot.”

He gets out of the water and takes off his shirt. Wringing it until the water is squeezed out of it.

Low wolf-whistles come from his right; it’s Ino, Sasuke’s seen her with Karin before; Hinata and Tenten track down the steep forest terrain behind her. “What do we have to do to get men like that around here?”

Karin snorts, she’s perched on a rock, sunbathing in the little sunlight that’s peeking through the gaps of the canopy, and reading, “You’re late.”

“Had to run errands.” She ignores her friend and walks up to Sasuke, “I’m Ino.”

Sasuke is impassive at her forward personality, the hand on his shoulders, the nails scratching at the skin, “You must be Madara’s nephew.”

“Since I’m so popular here I doubt I need an introduction,” Sasuke replies.

Naruto pipes from the water, he’s got arms crossed over a smooth rock holding up his chin, “Hey! What do you mean about the men thing—you had no issue when you and I—”

Ino turns to him and hisses, “Not now, Naruto.”

The blonde is the image of a kicked puppy. He mumbles something and Kiba laughs offering him an open beer. Suigetsu swims next to him too, but Sasuke glimpses down to catch his eye. Naruto indulges him in a private smile.

Ino touches him again, but Sasuke backing towards the pets, “I’m going to check on the dogs.”

If he uses the time to steal glimpses of Naruto that’s neither here nor there. Unbeknownst to him, there is a lingering curiosity in how the man manages to find his gaze, but here at a distance, playing with the dogs, he gets a reprieve from those eyes. Sasuke feeds the dogs and Suigetsu loiters to him for idle conversation.

“I’m surprised he warmed up to you so fast,” Suigetsu comments.

Kurama adjusts himself in Sasuke’s lap, preening at how Sasuke cards his fingers through his hair, “He’s a moody dog?”

“No, not really. But he’s got a little anxiety around strangers. Naruto saved him from the pound a few years ago. But he took to you so easily.”

“Animals can tell if someone’s unpleasant,” Sasuke explains, “They’re a good judge of character.”

“You like them, huh?”

“Yeah,” he explains, “We never had a pet growing up because of my brother’s allergies, but I’d like a dog. Or cat. I’m not picky.”

Suigetsu hums, he watches Naruto beckon Sasuke to the group for a game of chicken. Sasuke holds up his hand in a no, “I think there is another reason.”

“What?” Sasuke glances up to him.

Suigetsu steps away from the tree he was leaning on, trudging to where everyone is gathering, “It’s a theory. Let me test it first.”

Sasuke has a growing suspicion he cannot evade Naruto’s goading. Not at all.

“I wanna go against, Sasuke!” Naruto announces his chest puffed out. Ino slaps over it, “You suck at this, Naruto! Last time you dropped me one second into the round.”

“My fingers were oily from the burgers!”

Karin imposes between the bickering blondes, “I’ll be Sasuke’s partner. That fine?”

Sasuke nods, “Yeah.”

“oh, now we _have_ to kick their ass Ino!”

Ino can’t help but agree. Karin climbs Sasuke’s shoulders, her thighs encasing on both sides of his head, he firmly grips around the flesh. “Alright?” He makes sure.

She laughs, “Yep!”

Ino and Naruto struggle but eventually they manage. Jūgo calls _go_.

“Give it up Karin your noodle arms have no upper body strength,” Ino smacks.

Karin’s hair is loose over her bikini, but the ends tickle Sasuke’s ear so he moves his head to scratch the itch. Naruto immediately notices.

“Ino now!”  
  


Karin’s eyes widen at the sudden attack, Ino pushing with all her might, and Sasuke’s brief lapse in focus costs them the first round. “You cheated, you fucking twit!” the redhead curses her brother who sticks his tongue out in a deserved victory. Sasuke’s brow knit because was Naruto looking at him the entire time? He searches for the answer in the blonde who is talking game plan with Ino for the next round as if on cue he turns to find him too.

Sasuke’s chest does an unexpected little twitch.

“Round two, asswipes!” Karin climbs back up, this time hair wrapped in a tight bun.

Sasuke and Karin win 2/3.

//

The hair tie snaps around his wrist, the rubber breaking because of the tension it’s being pulled at, and Sasuke curses mutely, “Damnit.”

Naruto glances up, he’s sawing the wood they’d ordered for the floors into the accurate sizes, “What?”

Sasuke shakes his head, “Nothing. Where is Suigetsu?”

“He’s fixing the bathroom down the hall from the master bedroom,” Jūgo relays.

Mid-afternoon they break out for a late lunch, since they took consecutive days off over the weekend, they started earlier today. Since Sasuke’s not in a rush anymore he doesn’t mind the lax pace at which they’re working. Although unassuming at first, the house is huge, but the land that follows behind it goes for acres and acres. As opposed to the city where everything is congested, hardly any room for fully fleshed out houses much fewer properties that extend into the thick forestry, this is a breath of fresh air.

The veranda in the house opens in the center, it’s where the pond is sitting under the thick trunk and willowy branches of the plum blossom. The whole house surrounds the opening where sunlight drops in abundance. 

Sasuke walks onto the cobblestone pathway to see how the pond is draining after Jūgo’s quick fix. The greenery around him is bursting to life since spring has just come to a close, summer resting on top of the blooming season now. The pond touches the legs of the house, the fish swim merrily; clearly happy under the shade the awning of the tree provides.

He stretches his limbs, they’re dimly sore around the muscles. Sasuke is pretty active, he works out and keeps his health in shape, but the stress of manual labor is new to his body. There is an infraction period after which your body starts getting used to the added toil that’s expected out of it. After graduating from college, it’s only been the gym keeping him on track, especially since his job is more office work than anything else.

Out of everything, his arms ache the most. He did help with the flooring in one of the rooms so.

Naruto stumbles into him in the garden, he’s holding a plastic bag in one hand, “Oh, I was looking for you!”

“What’s up?”

“Here,” he proffers the modest bag into his hand, “Yours snapped, right? I got you some from the store when I was getting stuff for the first-aid kit for the crew.”

Sasuke takes out a packet of hair ties, Naruto goes on explaining, “They’re the elastic kind so they’ll last longer. Karin uses those too! She says the rubber one always gets too tangled in her hair and ends up breaking the strands.”

“Oh,” he doesn’t know what to say, but he assumes gratitude is in order, “Thanks, this is nice of you.”

Naruto rubs the nape of his neck, he dodges his eyes and meekly mentions, “Uh, I always see you getting frustrated with your bangs in your face so. Like I could tell you’re not used to spending so much time outside and stuff. It’s nothing, really.”

There it is again, the spasm from Sunday, Sasuke feels it around the overworking muscle in his chest. He doesn’t know what to make of it. Has Naruto always been paying attention to him? How has it taken him almost a month to notice this?

The afternoon breeze gently envelops around them, he gives up a smile at the gesture, “It’s nice, you’ll just have to deal it.”

Naruto chuckles, the shy traces slipping from his shoulders easily, “Fine, fine. I’m the nicest.”

“I didn’t say all of that,” Sasuke smirks and Naruto’s back to whining in that nasally rasp of his.

>>>>

“We can demolish it?” Jūgo asks.

“Yeah, there is no purpose for it. I’m trying to condense all the things stored in there and throwing out the stuff I don’t need at all. The rest will be donated or distributed amongst family members.” Sasuke looks up from the construction plan, “I just need time to move everything out of there first.”

“Okay, how long will it take?”

“Less than a day I suppose, I can get started after lunch today, hrm?”

“Sounds fine. The faster you’re done the sooner we can knock it down.” Jūgo takes him to the storehouse, it’s sinking into the foundation it stands on, the walls cracking at the bottom, one strong gust away from caving in. “You see how it’s crumbling down there? This place is a hazard site. So, whatever moving you need to do just do with the crew around; we can never be too safe, in case a collapse happens.”

“Alright.”

Turns out clearing out storage that has years and years of family heirlooms and furniture and drawers and chest, and boxes are a lot more time consuming than Sasuke anticipated. The broken-down furniture alone takes him three hours to sort through. Why the fuck did his family own so many lamps? What the hell is this nonsense? Buried under clothes from decades ago and futons that are pest-ridden he finds the cot him and Itachi both used over the course of their respective childhoods.

There is a trunk full of books, scrolls too, and calligraphy he recognizes to be his grandfather’s handwriting. Under one of the broken dressers, there is an ottoman full of albums, there is a whole box full of folding fans which admittedly did make him laugh, and not to mention the rolled-up rugs he’s never ever seen before. He’s moving one of the boxes when something falls from the top of the shelf and smashes to smithereens. Sasuke’s boots crunch over it, he cranes his neck to get a better look at what it was from under the box.

Glass mirror. Perfect.

“Sasuke!” Suigetsu calls out. He drops the box into the neat pile he’s built twenty paces from the storehouse.

“What’s up?”

“We’re going to head out. You should stop for tonight; we can get one of the boys to help you tomorrow, so it goes by faster.”

Sasuke frowns, “There are only a couple of things left I can finish it by the end of tonight.”

Suigetsu waves a placating hand to get him to change his mind, “Don’t sweat it. Jūgo informed me the thing isn’t structurally sound. We don’t want you getting stuck in there while we’re not here.”

He snorts at the dramatics, “Noted.”

There is only a couple of boxes, an old couch, and a stack of books left. Sasuke decides there is no use putting off something to tomorrow when he could get everything done by today. That said he takes a break, he quickly cooks himself white rice, there is no rice cooker, but his mom always preferred it doing the old fashion way—boiling the water, a dash of salt, in goes the clean rice. It requires more attention, but the end result is better too.

Sasuke dabbles soy sauce and the cut spring onion on it and heats up the miso soup he’d cooked the night before. A poor man’s meal, but a meal, nonetheless.

Twenty minutes should suffice to take out the leftover boxes from the storage, he’d moved the couch before he came in for dinner cutting his work by half. Sasuke slips on a sweatshirt, it tends to get colder at night and even if he’s naturally warm, he isn’t used to spending extended periods of time outside at night—it’s precautionary so he doesn’t catch a cold.

He’s stepping in to gather the last of the books, the storehouse nearly vacant save for the broken dresser wedged into the corner. Everything happens suddenly, the door of the Kura closes behind him due to harsh winds, the solid earth beneath him undulates unkindly and he has to crouch to stop himself from hitting his head on the concrete. Earthquakes aren’t uncommon in his country, so every person regardless of age knows the drop and cover routine. But the fact he’s inside a faulty building intensifies the situation.

Cosmos have it out for him because the storehouse collapses inwardly at the entrance, the door caving in and the wall bend at an angle toward each other. A dense rock crumbles from the ceiling and hits him on the head.

Sasuke comes to consciousness to the darkness surrounding him.

“Ugh,” he grunts getting up, but when he puts his weight on his right hand it pierces in unbearable pain. He hisses at the sting, there is a wet sensation over his fingers, he squints down to get a better look but it’s too dark to see anything.

Painstakingly he lifts his arm, his shoulder has nerves that tense at the movement, and touches his left hand to his right. There is something wedged into his palm and when he tries to feel around it, it sends down sharp pricks of pain down his hand.

_Fuck fuck fuck,_ he breathes out. He immediately lets it go. Everything is far too quiet. Sasuke finally gets on his feet to peer around him, there isn’t a lot of space due to the collapse, but he sees that the only opening is obstructed by debris. Sasuke tries to move the wreckage to create an opening, his dominant hand doing the work, however, his injury incapacitates him from making any progress.

How the hell is he going to get out now? He can practically hear Suigetsu’s know-it-all sneer. There is too much blood draining out of his hand enough to the point of leaving him light-headed. Sasuke balances himself against the rubble where the door was, and sighs, “How do I get out of this one?”

He startles not expecting a response, “Sasuke!”

Naruto’s voice is muffled. But it’s there. Beyond all the debris, and wreckage, the piles of rocks stacked on each other and the deafening darkness he can hear it, “Sasuke! Are you in there?”

“Yeah!” His own voice cracks when he answers, the dust catching in his throat he coughs, “I’m stuck!”

“We told you to stay put! Why don’t you listen—” Naruto’s tirade of rant spill over the barrier separating them, he sounds haggard and stressed to the max. Sasuke inwardly is remorseful he’s the cause of it, he just wanted to get things sorted when he had the time, but the blonde is right he should’ve listened. “Oi, are you listening? God, you didn’t faint or some shit did you?”

“How would I answer you if I did, Naruto?” Sasuke amuses. His head hurts and his cheek throbs and he’s losing sensation in his hand. “Can you get me out?”  
  


“Say please bastard!”

“I’ll pass out before that happens,” Sasuke jokes. But then, quietly more to himself than his friend who definitely can’t hear it over the collapsed entrance, “ _hurry.”_

“Hang on, Sasuke, don’t die on me okay!” Naruto sounds fairly alarmed. Sasuke snorts, cotton edging around his eyes, a blurry fuzz taking over.

His breathing gets unsteady, so he ends up crouching again, trying to focus himself on not hitting the floor once more. He could be concussed so he doesn’t want to pass out. Sure it’s a tad dramatic but this entire trip is cursed to hell. First, his car breaking down in the storm, then this house taking a sizable fortune out of his pocket for repairs and now this. He can’t catch a fucking break.

The only upside, the one goddamn titling flicker of hope is—Naruto’s voice becomes clearer, there is the sound of rocks being moved and a stream of pale moonlight slips through the widening hole between the debris, “Sasuke, you still with me?”

“Yeah,” he breathes out in hardship. His body aches everywhere.

“Keep focusing on my voice, you hear me?” Naruto’s raspy intonation demands. “Focus on me, only me, okay?”

“Okay,” Sasuke says that a bit more soundly. He blinks to try to relieve the heavy feeling settling over him, body growing feverish, he pushes through the debilitating pulse in his wrist, “Okay.”

There is a crack of rocks eroding from the previously gaping entrance, each passing moment increasing the stream of light pouring in. Eventually, he can hear Naruto fully, “Sasuke! Where are you?”

Sasuke staggers up on his feet, he leans up so Naruto can peer down at him, determined cobalt eyes dull the growing pain throughout his body, propelling him to reach forward with his good hand. He mumbles fuzzily, “Hey.”

Naruto crows fondly, “Hi there.”

Then a bit in reprimand, “You dickface, you had me shitting out here, what gives? Didn’t we say not to do anything without the crew!”

The raven can hardly focus, he winces guiltily, “Yell at me later. I’m losing blood.”

“What!?” Naruto’s horror screech hits harder than the fucking rock that took him out. “What the hell? Hold on, I’m coming.”

He reaches in grasping onto Sasuke’s palm, the grip is solid and gives him momentum, Naruto leans in a little so he can help Sasuke up through the opening he’s dug him. His hand comes around Sasuke’s side when he breaks out and props him upright against his shoulder. Naruto’s face is painted in worry, his shirt is damp from sweat and Sasuke finds comfort in it—to the point he lolls his head to the crook of his neck, sighing wispily in relief.

“Got you,” Naruto says.

Sasuke’s chest thuds, it’s not an error he conceives due to his body’s fight and flight response, it’s cause of something else. The hand around him tightens, firm and warm. Sasuke replies, “You got me.”

Sasuke’s on his back on the futon, there are literal stars in his eyes from the exertion and burst of adrenaline. “Naruto.”

Naruto is cursing up a storm looking for towels and first aid kit that he swore he left in the kitchen, the profanities are loud and he’s jumping from one corner to the other and then he’s disappearing down the hall and returning similar to an apparition, carrying thick folds of towels and a pail of water.

He’s not listening. “Naruto.”

He curses because the first aid is nowhere to be found, and he stumbles over the shoes Sasuke’s chucked near the shoji.

“Naruto!” he calls out lucidly.

The blonde stops, drops everything—well, he sets down the bucket of water—and runs to him, “I’m here. You okay? Everything okay?”

“It’s in the bathroom,” Sasuke relays.

“What?”

“Bathroom—the—”

“Oh!”

Naruto runs over to the quaint washroom, he brandishes the kit victoriously before dropping it on the plush futon next to him. “You gotta sit up, okay? And no passing out. We don’t know if you have a concussion.”  
  


“m fine,” he props himself against the couch with a little help.

His companion frowns, “Can we please go to the clinic you really don’t look that good—”

“Are you sure because every woman in this town would disagree?” Sasuke tries to lighten the mood with a joke.

Naruto’s still giving him those huge, bottomless ocean eyes, he suffices, “If I get a fever we can go.”

“Fine, then let me disinfect your wounds.”

Sasuke chugs down the painkiller and water Naruto had given him, it helps combat the ache splintering through every nerve in his body and watches the blonde at work. He’s meticulous and careful. He’s wearing gloves and has a proper regard for injury etiquette.

“You’re good at this.”

“I have a doctor for a sister so knowing a few things is natural,” he sets down the disinfectant and gently wipes the blood drying on Sasuke’s palm, “We work in construction, getting hurt on the job is a regular for us, and those visits to the clinics rack up, y’know? So, I took it upon myself learning a few things, so the boys had someone looking out for them.”

Sasuke’s palm tingles. Naruto sheepishly meets his gaze, “This is gonna hurt.”

“What?”

He doesn’t get to proceed because Naruto yanks out the nail wedged in the middle of his hand. Sasuke’s blank face betrays him in a fluttering flash of pain despite that Naruto catches sight of it.

“What kinda shit warning was that!” Sasuke pains.

“If I had told you it would’ve hurt more!”

“That makes absolutely no sense!”

Naruto gently rubs a thumb over the open wound, thankfully it’s not deep so probably doesn’t need stitches, “Sorry.”

Sasuke’s palm tingles merrily at the touch, it’s nice. “Whatever, just tape it.”

“Yes, sir,” Naruto grins under his fringe, he’s got summer freckles dotted over the bridge of his nose. Sasuke never noticed them before. However, that’s not what keeps his attention. It’s the identical horizontal lines on each of his cheek, three symmetrical lines. He never realized they were there. Not even when they went swimming.

The other man stays quiet wrapping his hand in gauze; after he’s put the anti-microbial gel and butterfly tape to close the wound.

“We need to watch for infection,” Naruto finishes, “I still think we should—”

“This is fine,” Sasuke persists.

Naruto fusses to himself. “Fine,” he then shifts up to stand on his knees, “Come closer, your face is next.”

“What’s wrong with my face?”

“Well, a lot for starters—”

Sasuke hits him on the shoulder.

“ _Ow_!” he yelps theatrically, “You’re so cruel to me!”

“So?”

Naruto cups the side of his head, his thumb grazes over a laceration, “You’ve got cuts and bruises.”

“Oh, alright.” Sasuke tips his chin up, neck stretching, and closes his eyes. “Do your thing.”

Naruto doesn’t move, his hand still gently cradling the side of his face, the moment drags a second too long because Sasuke peels his eyes open. He’s got a question at the tip of his tongue _why aren’t you doing anything?_ But the expression he’s graced with cements him on the cold floorboards of the living room. The blonde is gazing down at him, eyes sunken into an unexpected softness, their nearness bringing back a hitch in his already parted breath.

He softly enquires, “Naruto?”

“Right, I’ll get to it,” he clears his throat, grabbing the disinfectant again and pedantically cleaning Sasuke’s small cuts and wounds.

Sasuke tries to ignore it, it’s hard though when Naruto’s bent over his face, carefully, tenderly taking care of his injuries. His good hand clutches tightly around his knee, fingers digging into the material to his skin, to stop himself. He persists, _it_ persists _thump thump thump_.

Vestiges of his rationale try to compartmentalize his current state to his accident, it’s a natural response, he got in some shit and now someone is tending to him. This is how it works.

Naruto is unaware of his struggle, he laughs good-naturedly, as if he hadn’t been pinning Sasuke down under the weight of his deep blue eyes. “Karin’s gonna have my neck. We got her pretty boy all busted up.”

Sasuke breathes in to calm himself, sinking into his natural aloof disposition, “It’s just a face.”

“A nice face,” is Naruto’s knee-jerk response.

He raises a brow, Naruto blubbers putting a bandage over his cheek, thumb tamping down on it to stick it, “You know amongst other faces.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Shut up, you’re distracting me!”

“You sure it’s not my face?”

“Please go die.”

“I almost did,” Sasuke ruefully answers. “Would you like that?”

Naruto’s hand stutters, it’s a painful wisp that he releases next, “You’re suddenly so talkative can I finish?”

“Of course, I’ll let you finish.”

“Thanks.”

Once the blonde is done, he throws the wrappers, tape, and gloves into the bin. He moves Sasuke’s face side to side one last time, assess for any other damage, then doing the same to his arms and legs, “Does it hurt anywhere else?”

“The way you’re holding my head hurts.”

Naruto lets go with a deadpan, then slaps upside on Sasuke’s knee, “What the hell, Naruto!”

“That’s for not listening when three different people _told_ you to not go in the storehouse. Do you have anything in that head of yours or—”

“Hold on a second—I was just trying to—”

“I don’t care! What would have you done if I didn’t find you? If I didn’t come back?”

“Wait, why are you back anyway?”

Naruto scrubs a weary hand over his face, then ruffles his hair, “I got some ramen from that place I was telling you about. I thought I could bring it over and we could eat together.”

Sasuke’s mouth rounds out in an _‘o’_. “How’d you find me….?”

Naruto juts a thumb out to the kitchen, “The kettle was still warm, but you hadn’t had your tea yet, so I thought you went outside to check on something and lo and behold the fucking storage room had collapsed.”

“Hey, now, I didn’t cause the earthquake.”

“You’re a dumbfuck,” Naruto pinches him on the side and Sasuke frowns batting his hand away.

“Now what?”

Gently the blonde pushes back his hair to check his head, “You don’t seem to have injured your head, but we should still keep you up for a few more hours. Then you can take another dose of painkillers and go to sleep.”

Sasuke nods, eyes drifting to the table in the kitchen, “Do you think the ramen is cold?”

“Seriously?” Naruto’s stern expression is betrayed by the growl his stomach emits. He flushes a crimson color. Sasuke thinks it’s cute. “Fuck off!”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“I saw it on your face.”  
  


Sasuke mumbles, “Sure you did.”  
  


“What’d you say?”

“Oh nothing, so food?”

In one of the boxes, Sasuke had already disassembled, they’d found a monopoly board. They both ate their ramen and played the game to pass the time. He doesn’t know when sleep takes over, but somewhere in the middle of the night, Sasuke gets too hot in his sweatshirt. He tosses and turns and then can’t move. He opens his eyes to see what’s blocking him.

Naruto’s sound asleep next to him, arm under a pillow, softly snoring into the dead of the night. The summer night is cold enough that they’ve got the single comforter over both of them. Sasuke’s chest uncharacteristically tightens. He chose to ignore it earlier but right now in the stillness surrounding him, he can’t turn away from what he’s facing.

He’s had plenty of friends over his lifetime, some lost and some stuck. But this was unmatched, it’s unusual for him to take a liking to someone so easily, so comfortably even though they essentially got off on the wrong foot. Sasuke can’t comprehend the knot in his stomach nor can he explain why there is an underlying scratch under the surface of whatever he’s feeling. Perhaps it’s the burgeoning nostalgia and the stories that are woven in this house.

The place he was born in, the house he took his first steps in, the relatives that doted on him, the uncle that cherished him. Everything resides in permanence in this place, but still. There is no reason for Naruto to invoke those emotions out of him—although, it could easily be because they both hold this place in high regard, one way or another.

Sasuke justifies the discomfort as that. He thinks it’s enough for now to gain a friend from the ashes of something he can no longer go back to. It’s nice, nonetheless, to find someone who’ll entertain the dream anyway.


	3. iii.

Karin is holding him by the chin, moving his face side to side, “Nothing looks _too_ bad. You probably won’t even scar.”

“See I told you there is no reason to worry,” Sasuke steps back, “I’m completely fine.”

“Are you sure he’s not concussed, Karin? Or has brain damage because I swear he’s acting stupider than—” Naruto doesn’t finish because Sasuke’s smacking his shoulder, “You!”

Suigetsu laughs heartily, “You brought this upon yourself.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Aw, don’t pout,” Suigetsu claps his shoulder briskly and it makes him seize up. Eyes widening in a spark of pain shooting down his shoulder and he squeezes out a strained breath.

Maybe they didn’t notice.

They all notice.

Naruto crowds him near the post, “What’s wrong with your shoulder? I asked you if you were hurt elsewhere and you said no—you lied to me—Sasuke, what the heck—”

“Breath, Naruto,” his sister advises before moving behind Sasuke, “At least let him talk.”

“Uh,” Sasuke procrastinates in explaining, but Karin’s tugging his shirt up so might as well come clean, “Got hit by a rock I think my left shoulder is bruised.”

Karin has his shirt bunched up to the top and the two other guys lean in to see the damage. A sizeable purple welt mottled his skin, the borders deepening into a frozen red, and stretched from his shoulder to the curve of his arm. Naruto’s face betrayed his composure, it’s like even when he’s trying to stay put together his emotions can’t help but surface, “That looks really bad.”

“Did you ice it?” Karin asks.

Sasuke grimaces, “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep so I put an ice pack over it.” He twists to gauge the situation, “Oh, that’s pretty bad.”

“I should’ve checked and gotten an ointment or something, maybe, a balm,” Naruto blinks at the ground talking to himself, and Sasuke has the foolish impulse to draw his attention, he wants him to look at him, openly show his worries to _him_.

Without preamble, Sasuke lightly brushes the bottom of Naruto’s chin with his knuckles, the gesture is extremely faint, hardly lasting a second. It does its job though because Naruto’s picking up his head, effervescent blue eyes meeting his darker ones, Sasuke puts on a face, he doesn’t know what it is, but it’s followed by nudging his head a smidge. “Still,” the blonde accepts in silent communication.

“You didn’t know,” Sasuke says.

Karin presses down on the bruise and Sasuke careens a little at the sudden pressure, Naruto catches his wrist, and it stings more than the fading ache of his shoulder. Sasuke wonders, and wonders, and wonders.

She superfluously diagnosis, “It’ll hurt like a bitch over the next few days, but you should be fine. Just ice it or compress it. Nothing more; bruises heal on their own.”

“You heard the lady,” Suigetsu comments coming to his side again. Naruto lets go of his wrist. That stings too.

“Did you and Karin want to help me sort through the boxes I pulled at least?”

Karin and Naruto exchange mutual glances, “Sure. We can go do it later at night once I’m done with my shift at the clinic.”

They split into their respective tasks, Karin bids goodbye and everyone is back to work. Sasuke for all intents and purpose is useless, and even if he’d insisted on helping Suigetsu, Naruto and the rest wouldn’t allow him. Instead, he takes out his laptop and checks in with work back home. He doesn’t intend on getting distracted or losing focus because he’s not that person, not the type to do things half-heartedly, but it’s like a fissure in his attention span, a fault he can’t recover because—his eyes roam, and search, and pry until they find him.

Naruto’s directing some of the guys, his hands in the air gesticulating about the task at hand, his jeans loose, his hair unkempt. Sasuke’s private corner allows him to be discreet, it entertains his trivial indulgence, it’s harmless watching the smooth skin around Naruto’s face. To study the way his cheeks bunch over a smile, but the corners near his mouth sink into wells, tiny and unassuming. Sasuke gets the insane urge to touch.

He stuns at his on train of thought. He should be a lot of things: horrified, mortified, guilty, perhaps even a touch scared. He’s not. None of that. Instead, it’s the rapid horse-pace his heart knocks out again and again like it’s desperately trying to get his attention, like _hey are you listening to me?_

Sasuke pulls open his emails, he’s typing back to one of the associates that are lost in his absence, he gets in touch with other colleagues, and prospective work matters. Amidst all that, there is an unfamiliar sensation pricking at his side, a tug that’s compelling him to follow the pull. Yielding to the urge he lets himself fall to it, Naruto’s eyes widen when they catch his as if he hadn’t intended on Sasuke looking back.

At first, they keep a steady gaze, then Naruto’s shying away from the attention, even from the distance between them, Sasuke can perfectly spot the peachy color rising over the man’s cheeks. He feels heat crawling under his own neckline. They both look away. Sasuke doesn’t want to stare too long, as if Naruto was the sun because when you look at the sun too long, you’re bound to go blind, so he turns his head, but. No one ever tells you it’s hard _not_ to look in the first place because as the sun, _he_ was everywhere, and Sasuke saw him even without looking.

>>>>

They’re sitting in the living room, boxes cut open and albums splayed out because they gave up sorting the other stuff a while ago.

Karin points at the picture they’ve opened the page to, “Oh, who’s that.”

“Madara’s younger brother, my other great uncle, Izuna, he passed away when I was pretty young,” Sasuke explains, “Everyone says that even though I carry myself similar to Madara my features are more similar Uncle Izuna.”

The redhead contemplates that, “I definitely see a resemblance.” Naruto’s leaning all the way into him, face coming to peer down at the album near Sasuke’s face, “Nah, Sasuke’s way more handsome.”

He’s heard that before too, and it’s never excited him in any way whatsoever, but coming from the blonde it swells a pleasurable heat in the pit of his stomach. He swoons happily—he doesn’t question why he’s so happy over the simple compliment, there is no need to corrode into these brimming emotions when he can enjoy them.

“When did you move again?" Karin inquires when they happen upon a picture from his 5th birthday, party hat on and cake in front of him in the same room they’re sitting in.

Sasuke recalls perfectly, “a week or so before my 8th birthday I believe.”

“Wow,” Naruto exclaims, he’s got his legs crossed and is rocking back and forth holding onto his toes. “We moved here the same year! Maybe even same month. We could’ve seen each other if you hadn’t left.”

“Funny that, we all could’ve been school mates,” Karin muses. “You and Naruto would be the same class.”

Naruto’s eyes crinkle cheerfully, “Hehe, it’s like fate’s been trying to get us to be friends all this time.”

He gets up to work through the other boxes, Sasuke stays behind with Karin as they sort the china, “I’m happy you’ve chosen to stay.”

Sasuke balks at the sudden honesty, she goes on to explain, “I don’t know, you’re headstrong and perceptive and caring. But also, the type of person who sees things for as they are.”

“I could say the same for you.”

She laughs a little, misty around the edges, “Naruto isn’t like that. He’s hopeful and idealistic which is fine, but. He was a troublemaker all throughout Junior High and High School.”

“I have a vague idea.”

“Mom…after everything that happened, he took it the hardest. He was the baby, you know? I wasn’t much older, but I felt like I had to be. Dad had to juggle everything on his own there on out I couldn’t make it harder. But he didn’t know how to explain the hurt, so he lashed out. He wasn’t cruel though.”

“That doesn’t seem to be him,” Sasuke can attest to the lashing out, he’s been on that end of the spectrum at some point too, “What changed?”

“Not sure,” she loosely expels a sound, “Sophomore year of college he dropped out. It had been a mess, but he started the construction thing with Kiba. Suigetsu finished his degree and joined them and well, four years later here we are. I think he’s finally happy.”

It makes Sasuke happy that Naruto’s happy. Karin falls asleep on the couch. Sasuke puts a blanket over her while Naruto sets the boxes aside to spread the futon. Sasuke tosses another pillow on the sheets when Naruto draws his eyes up at him, one hand mindlessly brushing back his sister’s hair.

“I heard her telling you how much of a problem child I am,” he grins, but there is a touch of vulnerability in the statement.

Sasuke assents a private piece of himself to soothe the ache, “Freshman year I took a semester off, went off the grid completely after my father’s death.”

“Where’d you go?”

“My friend from High School had an apartment to himself. I just,” Sasuke remembers his lowest, still fresh, “It was pretty bad.”

“Losing a parent isn’t ever easy.”

“Yeah,” he indulges, “I’m hoping eventually it stops hurting. It’s been five years of this constant ache.”

Naruto takes his hand, the injured one and brushes a thumb over the dressings, “I think the pain never goes it’s just the memories, they’re not all bad anymore. You remember the good more than the bad. But you never stop missing them.”

Then he asks, “Is this house too much of a reminder of your father?”

“Kinda, yeah. Too much of the perfect childhood I can’t have back, after all, he loved this darn place.”

“I get that, but isn’t it nice to still have a part of him? It’s nice to have reminders of people who’re gone.”

“So, you can cling to what’s left of them,” Sasuke shrugs.

“I take it the tea is one of those things,” Naruto perceptively guesses, he’s been paying attention to Sasuke all this time, and that warms his belly. He then shyly rubs at his nose, not letting go of Sasuke’s hand though, “Ramen for me.”

They both dissolve into a quiet laughter. Sasuke senses a really old burden over the bridge of his sternum lighten. It’s nice; the acceptance, the understanding. It’s new.

>>>>

“Has my son taken to Konoha so much that he forgot his own mother?” Mikoto’s voice is a breath of fresh air, in the turbulent landscape of his thoughts.

Sasuke maneuvers around the tiny kitchen table, sitting down soundly, “Mother you’re speaking of the impossible.”

“Then where have you been?”

In my head, he thinks. “Here, there, the work on the house is keeping me busy. And the people.”

“The people?”

  
He scratches the old finish of the table, the wood chipped in places, the color washed-out from age, “Didn’t you ask me to make friends? Guess what.”

“Oh my,” she sounds surprised, “I’d love to meet all these people. I miss our town. We barely got to visit properly during the funeral, and it didn’t seem appropriate at the time.”

“You should visit; I think Obito would like that too,” Sasuke encourages.

“Glad you say that!” there is a knock on the door, Sasuke moves out from the kitchen to the genkan, stepping down the still uneven platform to open the door. One of the crew must’ve forgotten something, but he’s surprised pleasantly, “Thought I’d come see for myself what has my son so swamped.”

Sasuke doesn’t even hang up, crosses the threshold to wrap an arm around the smaller stature of his mother’s shoulders, “You should’ve told me. I’d have come get you or something.”

Mikoto tightens her hug, something on her tongue but immediately comes to a halt, “What happened to your face?”  
  


Sasuke’s eyes widen owlishly, he doesn’t get the chance to say anything because his mother is fussing, touching his face everywhere, “This bruise is so bad and are those cuts on your forehead? Wait your hand, Sasuke what happened? Why didn’t you tell us? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, you don’t have to worry.”

“Don’t have to worry that bandage around your hand says otherwise, is this why you weren’t calling?”

“Partly. I really was busy, you know.”

Sasuke helps her in, from the corner of her eyes he can see her car parked outside. She frets over him tirelessly, “Fine. Now, will you tell me what happened?”

To not stress her out any further he gives the details, leaves the part out about him bleeding profusely, almost passing out, and hitting his head on the rock. Lord knows, he doesn’t need another nagging.

She settles on the couch, studying her surroundings, “At least you got it checked from a doctor. I know how much you hate hospitals, but. I worry you know?”

Sasuke kisses his mother’s temple, assuring her he’s perfectly fine and his shoulder is almost fully healed. They talk about other things and Mikoto mentions she brought him more clothes to wear since he’s been recycling through the few t-shirts and one pair of jeans and joggers, he’d brought with him. He tells her they can have lunch together and then go around town.

They don’t get too far, washing rice when there is a tick tick on the door. Sasuke moves to open it but there are soft thuds on the stairs and then Naruto’s peeking into the living room, “Hey you didn’t lock the door, finally warming up to the idea, huh?”

He stops in his steps. Mikoto smiles politely, wiping her hands on the airline skirt of her dress, “Hi there. You must be people.”

Sasuke’s heart races. Why is he nervous?

Naruto squints, “Uh, people?”

“Sasuke’s friend?” she gestures between the two men. Sasuke waits on Naruto’s reaction, it’s bright how a grin breaks onto his confused features, “Yes! I’m Naruto Uzumaki, you must be?”

“Mikoto, Sasuke’s mother,” she takes his hand but draws him in lightly, giving a side hug which Naruto flusters around a bit, “You’re Minato’s son, if I’m right?”

That surprises both men. Mikoto goes on to explain, her sweet laugh tinkering around the house, “I saw you at the funeral. Your father gave me his condolences and you were running around the place making sure all the arrangements were fine, if I’m not mistaken.”

Naruto nods enthusiastically, “Yes, yes. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, dear,” her smile is reserved, but honest. Sasuke’s been on the receiving end of it all his life, he never expected her to offer it to someone else, someone who’s beginning to corrode every normality in his life. “What do you have there with you?”

“Oh,” Naruto lifts the bag. “Lunch, I uh brought Sasuke and I lunch.”

Sasuke’s face warms at that. Naruto meets him halfway, “If you’re hungry.”

“Famished.”

The three of them have lunch together. Naruto’s extroverted personality allots him the freedom to comfortably fit in between the mother and son. That said it’s astonishing how he easily draws out full-laughs from his mother, his own mouth never going back to a firm line it’s accustomed to, it’s over fried rice, his mother asks.

“Naruto, if I’m correct, you have a sister, right?”

He beams proudly, “Yes! She’s two years older. She’s a doctor.”

“And beautiful if I recall correctly,” Mikoto laces her fingers under her chin, propping it up on the table. Naruto’s nose wrinkles at that, he miserably answers, “I suppose she’s alright.”

“Sasuke, what do you think?”

His mother elbows him in the side, the chopstick stopping at the dip of his bottom lip, “Huh?”

“Do you think she’s pretty? You’ve met, right?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke doesn’t put too much thought in answering, “She’s very pretty.” What he doesn’t expect is the displeased expression on Naruto’s face, it slides off as quickly as it had appeared.

His mom addresses the younger man, “Is she single?”

Sasuke freezes. Naruto balks at the question, his mother has no tact, she’s openly expressing interest on his regard except he _didn’t_ even ask for it. Surprises aren’t done for the day because Naruto replies, firmly and clearly, “No, she isn’t. She’s seeing someone.”

What?

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Mikoto dismisses easily, not taking the rejection to heart. “I’ve been trying to get Sasuke out there since he broke up with his ex, but he can be a bit hesitant in the matters of the heart.”

Sasuke scarcely warns, mind still reeling at Naruto’s bald-faced lie, “Mother.”

She squeezes his cheek, it’s something she does from time to time to remind him of how no matter how old he gets he’s still her baby. She addresses Naruto accordingly, “Are you the same, Naruto?”

“No, ma’am,” Naruto’s not looking at her, Sasuke only knows this because he can feel the intense gaze on the side of his face, the gooseflesh over his arm seeks permanency due to the cornflower blue eyes. “I am terrible at keeping distance when I like someone, it’s quite bad.”

“That’s brave.”

Naruto laughs now, it’s shy around the edges, he’s ducking to scratch his cheek, “Foolish too.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Sasuke says before he thinks. Naruto jerks up at the sound of his voice, doe-eyed and something else—something hopeful. He changes the topic, “Tea, anyone?”

Mikoto demands Naruto joins them the next day. They head to the market and buy grocery for dinner; the kitchen is fully renovated and ready for proper use so it’s a good time as any to start cooking a proper meal.

After lunch, which is a simple dish made by his mother, Naruto pleadingly asks, “Please tell me you’ll be visiting more often because I don’t think I can live without your cooking.”

She laughs, absolutely charmed, “I could always pass the recipe to your mother.”

Naruto smiles sadly, “Ah, that won’t be possible ‘m afraid so.”

Mikoto reads between the lines, she reaches over and kisses his forehead, “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, it’s been awhile,” he’s barring the emotions threatening out of him, Sasuke can tell. He wants to extend an arm to tug him close, that he is okay here with him and Mikoto.

Mikoto offers without a doubt of thought, plating more food out for Naruto, “Don’t know if it’ll make a difference but you’re always welcome at my home. Think of me as your mom and while I’m here if you want anything to eat let me know I’ll make it for you.”

Naruto beams at her, grateful and on the verge of unshed tears.

They visit a few more places, Mikoto complains about her plants and Naruto gives her advice on how to care after them, he's a bit of a green thumb himself so. But eventually, during the afternoon, they start their journey to a Shinto temple Mikoto mentioned visiting as a child. It’s old, really old, Naruto doesn’t even know of it and he knows the town like the back of his hand.

She knows though, picture-perfect memory as she guides them through the backwoods, “Jesus, if I knew your mom had plans for a hike, I’d have worn different boots.”

Sasuke cheekily jeers, “Maybe you’re out of shape Naruto that’s why you’re having so much trouble keeping up with my mother who happens to be in her 50’s.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Why ever would you think that?”

Naruto pushes him and Sasuke pushes back, “It’s not like you’re faring any better!”

“I’m doing perfectly fine, thank you very much,” Sasuke insists.

Extending his hand out, Naruto swipes it behind his neck, fingers touching the hair there, it tickles and Sasuke’s skin traitorously burns. Naruto’s matching the feeling with a blush smudging over his face, “You’re all sweaty, and breathing all hard.”

“It’s summer. It’s hot.” Sasuke is lying. That’s not why he’s warm, that’s not why he’s having trouble getting his lungs to cooperate.

“Sure is,” Naruto rubs gently before removing his hand.

Mikoto calls out to them, “Boys! I found it!”

The temple is old, rustic golds and carvings etched into the structure. There hasn’t been any sort of upkeep in the past few years which shows, but somehow despite the air-trodden damages, the temple stands up solidly. Mikoto dusts off the errant leaves and lights an incense stick they’d bought at the store. Then she steps back to bring her hands together in a praying motion.

Sasuke imitates her movements, but Naruto’s touching the side of his elbow, hair swept across his forehead, “How do you….?”

He chews on the smile inside his gums, whispering like the blonde had, “However, you want. There isn’t one right way.”

“What do you say? What should I ask?”

“Whatever you want.”

Sasuke closes his eyes and thinks about the past few weeks. He thinks about the house, he thinks about Madara, he allows himself for the first time in five years to think about his father, and then as if it’s a culmination of all that he’s feeling, of all that he’s moving towards, he thinks about Naruto. It’s not hard to fill the rest of the blank spaces there on out. In fact, it’s easier than he’s ever had to try.

His heart softly whispers, furtive and intense in its demonstration, there is a knock into his elbow, so he squints one eye open glancing sideways. Naruto winks one open too, hands aligned together in front of his face, he cracks the raven a grin. Sasuke counters it with his own smirk.

He closes his eyes and prays.

They walk down the steps giving his mother a moment of privacy.

Naruto sits next to him on the dirty stair, “I didn’t know you were…” He doesn’t finish, lets Sasuke put a definition, a label to his piqued curiosity.

Sasuke shakes his head, “It’s not that. It’s the same as looking up at a shooting star, you’ve done that, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“It’s just faith and hope for the future, that’s all.”

“What do you hope for then?”

Sasuke leans on the arm over his knees, he turns his face, so his ear is pressed down on his forearm, and Naruto’s looking at him so softly it’s striking a match in the pit of his stomach.

“Haven’t you heard? If you say your wish out loud it won’t come true.”

Naruto’s sincerity washes Sasuke down, it can’t be this easy to be so earnest, he’s encountered so many people in his short life and he’s yet to find any profound meaning in meeting them. That all has changed, though, because right now sitting shoulder to shoulder to Naruto he thinks everything that’s happened so far, all the tiny details of his life that have piled in heaps over the years were to bring him here to this moment. Next to Naruto.

All his life the universe working to find Naruto, “Then I hope it comes true. Whatever it is that you have faith for.”

Sasuke hums, he indulges lavishly at Naruto’s tethered attention on him. The blond says, reading his mind, “This is going to sound stupid.”

“That’s not out of the ordinary.”

Naruto puffs up the slightest, Sasuke leans into him in encouragement, “Tell me anyway.”

“I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”

“Me too,” it’s honest. “But also.”

“But also?” Naruto’s at the edge of his seat hanging to each breath Sasuke expels, taking whatever Sasuke’s offering and when did they get so desperate in each other’s presence? That each word tied them to one another. Sasuke should be terrified at the bold realizations running through his mind. He’s never known himself to be like this. But he isn’t afraid, not in the least.

Sasuke shrugs, he’s warm everywhere now, not just his face, “Don’t you think all our life has been leading up to this?”

“And what’s this?” Naruto’s brave too, he doesn’t stutter, he’s impatient and earnestly seeking.

Sasuke wishes he could name _this_ but he’s still trying to understand that part, all he knows is it’s enough to get a prayer out of him, to light a faith within him. “I’m not sure yet,” he offers.

Naruto smiles, it’s different from every other smile he’s directed at Sasuke. This one holds an admission, it’s rare and it’s scratching at the surface of Sasuke’s heart, “Me neither.”

Thoughtfully he adds, reaching out to brush Sasuke’s hair from his face, blue eyes sinking into darker ones, “Can we figure it out together?”

The skin near his temple where Naruto’s fingertip fleetingly grazes burns. Sasuke replies, “I’d like that.”

Mikoto calls out, her solid steps down the stairs putting a respectful distance between them, “Sasuke. Naruto.”

They both stand to full height—even a step below they’re taller than her and the thought clutches around his chest. His mother dotes on him fondly, cupping the side of his cheek and she does the same to Naruto. She says eyes full of love, “Thank you for coming along.”

Naruto’s eyes quiver and Mikoto presses closer into his side, “Thank you, Naruto, for everything.”

Sasuke has half a mind to ask if she heard them talking. His mother squeezes his hand while she hugs Naruto’s side who buries his head in the crown of her head. Sasuke has reason to believe if she did that’s fine too.

>>>>

Since the storehouse incident, the other men decided Sasuke can’t help until his hand heals. It’s almost there. So, for now, he’s got a lot of free time to himself.

His mother left in the middle of the week, she had things to tend to back home but thoroughly enjoyed her time with him, even Naruto and the few other people she ended up meeting. They even had dinner with Obito and Kakashi who were more than ecstatic to have her.

Sasuke is reading, leaning against the column in the veranda, one leg stretched out and the other pulled up so he can rest an arm over it. Over the top of the book, he sneaks a glance at the company, Jūgo and Naruto are installing a French drain; actually, that’s what the rust-haired man is doing, the blonde is tending to the garden.

Naruto’s got smears of dirt on his cheek, the grime clinging to his skin every time he wipes his face with the back of his hand. He doesn’t even realize though that his attempts are futile.

The way light is cutting into the enclosure highlights parts of Naruto’s profile, half of him in shadow, the other glimmering in the butterscotch sunshine. Was Naruto always this alluring? Sasuke can perfectly recall their first meeting, standing at the doorstep of this house, the man that had bleach-blonde hair, dark brows, and the only thing Sasuke had noticed were the sunspots on his arm, the hair that lightly dusted across the span. He wonders if Naruto’s still got the freckles dotting there.

Isn’t it funny the things you didn’t notice before suddenly zoom in once your sentiments towards them change?

Sasuke briefly wishes that Naruto would look back at him too, see him too, perhaps he wants to be seen by him in a different light too. _Look at me too_ , Sasuke chances to think.

Naruto picks up his head and does just that. The grip he has around the book slackens, his throat closing up at his quiet demand being reciprocated without question. Sasuke smiles, heat touching around the back of his ears, and Naruto grins back—brightly, vividly, unapologetically.

Sasuke raises the book over his face again. He doesn’t know what sort of expression he’s got on, but he’s afraid Naruto will see through it and be able to tell. Would it be so bad if he knew how reckless Sasuke’s heart has gotten in his presence? Gluttony is a human vice and Sasuke is drowning in it. He tilts his head and traces back to where he was looking before.

His heart doubles when he finds Naruto never stopped gazing.

Once again Sasuke buries his nose in his book. The words don’t register. He doesn’t even know what he’s reading at this point. But his throat tickles and his chest expands around the pressure his heart puts against his ribs.

The group of guys he’s befriended, Naruto’s closest of the closest, break for lunch together. They come to sit with him on the deck, Suigetsu’s got bags of takeout he’s picked up and Kiba gets the gallon bottles of water and plastic cups out.

Jūgo passes everyone a Styrofoam plate and they all dig in. Sasuke’s picking out the water chestnuts from his Lo Mein when Suigetsu speaks around a garlic sauce broccoli, “So, I have some news.”

“Is this about your fish farm pyramid scheme cause man no matter how many times you ask the rest of us aren’t going to be investing in it.”

Naruto steals the chestnuts and eats them in one go.

Suigetsu threatens his chopsticks in Kiba’s face, “First of all, you fuckers, it’s not a pyramid scheme because it will actually work just wait—” Jūgo snorts, but Suigetsu ignores him to turn to Naruto’s who is happily inhaling his noodles, “It’s about our big boy over here turning down miss Jun at the bar last night.”

Naruto chokes on said noodles. Sasuke watches him gasp for water which Jūgo pours him, and says affronted, “What the hell, Sui?”

“What? You’ve been trying to sleep with her since at least High School, and now that she is interested in you, you turn her down?”

“I have not!” Naruto protests.

Jūgo fills in the gaps for Sasuke, “Jun was a year above us. Pretty brown hair, big brown eyes, super polite. She was literally the girl you’d bring home to your parents.”

“And Naruto wanted a chance with her but she’s _so_ out of his league.”  
  


“You guys think everyone is out of my league,” the whole discussion sounds rehearsed, it’s probably reoccurring considering how put out Naruto sounds, “Anyway, I’m not interested her anymore. That’s all.”

Kiba stops eating. “What?”

Suigetsu snorts and goes back to his meal as if he didn’t instigate the whole debate, Kiba’s demanding, “You into someone or what?”

Naruto chews on his carrot in nibbles like a rabbit, “Mind your business.”

Jūgo casually inputs, “Leave him be, besides you know if he was into someone we’d know. Naruto can hardly contain himself when he gets feelings, he’s all over the place.”

“You guys suck,” Naruto searches for him from beneath his thick eyelashes, Sasuke suddenly isn’t all that hungry. He excuses himself to get a cup of tea, he picks ginseng and waits for the kettle to heat up.

Naruto catches up to him, “Please don’t think that.”

Sasuke’s taken aback, he lost interest in the conversation and stepped away as there isn’t anything he could contribute. Also, it’s not exactly pleasant hearing about all the people Naruto’s into considering his new feelings—it doesn’t have a name, but he knows enough to know Naruto is the reason behind his heart beating itself into a frenzy.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

Naruto’s careful, he never crosses boundaries, he’s tentative and kind, but he expresses regret as he speaks, “Suigetsu was shooting shit. I just.” He pauses then collects himself, “You’re the last person who I’d want to think I’m involved with someone.”

The room slides into a deafening respite, but Sasuke’s hearing it loudly, it’s knocking against the walls in him, it’s taking everything in him to not give in. He doesn’t, he’s twisted like that, so he doesn’t, “Okay.”

“Okay,” Naruto breathes out as if he’d been holding it for a while. “Okay.”

“Yeah,” Sasuke smirks, grabbing two mugs. “Tea?”

Naruto nods cracking a smile and moves to get the cup from Sasuke. They’re okay.

>>>>

Sasuke is getting ready for bed when his phone chimes. He picks up on the second ring.

“You couldn’t have missed me this much. We saw each other only a few hours ago,” Sasuke rubs at his ankle, the bone there appreciating the light massage.

“Maybe I’m just codependent, have you ever considered that?” Naruto’s voice is even raspier on the phone. Sasuke didn’t know that. He finds joy in this little new tidbit of info and files it away in the folder in his brain that’s ceaselessly taking so much space, one labeled _naruto_ and all that belongs to the boy.

“I have,” Sasuke’s head hits the pillow lightly, “I was hoping you’d correct me.”

“There would hardly be any truth in that.”

“Does that mean I can assume I’m the reason you’re still up?”

Naruto laughs all light and airy, it wiggles through the speaker and finds itself bubbling in Sasuke’s throat too, “You’re always the reason that’s keeping me up.”

“How terrible of me, maybe, I’ll let you go.”

“No, don’t,” Naruto jumps frantically, “What’s the rush?”

“I get to sleep in on a Saturday for the first time in weeks I’m looking forward to it,” Sasuke muses.

Naruto’s voice goes quieter then like it does when he’s sharing a secret, “Then I suppose you don’t want to hear what I called you for.”

“I thought it was cause you missed me.”

Sasuke doesn’t get a response. Maybe Naruto did hang up, but then the line should go beep.

“Don’t be so cruel,” Naruto sounds pained, “After all, in the end, you can regret it.”

The sheet kisses around his chin, Sasuke pushes an arm under the pillow. He’s firm, “I don’t regret things I feel.”

“Obito wants me to look after the farm tomorrow, him and Kakashi won’t be here for the weekend,” he changes the topic, Sasuke wishes he didn’t but takes it as his loss.

Naruto doesn’t let him feel that way for long, “Would you like to come help me?”

“To look after the farm?”

“Yeah.”

“Just us?”

Naruto’s next breath is heavier, “Just us.”

Blood rushes to his head, there is a ringing noise in his ear, “What time?”

“Early,” Naruto’s laugh breaks the looming tension shrouding over them, “Sorry about that Saturday you had planned.”

“This is better so it’s fine,” Sasuke smiles into his pillow. “Tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, I’ll text you the details.”

Sasuke stays on the line, he’s anticipating something, and once more Naruto doesn’t fail him, “I can’t wait to see you.”

His heart honest to god skips a beat. He’s going insane. “Don’t be so cruel.”

“Why do you say that?”

“How do you expect me to sleep now?”

Naruto only laughs at that.

>>>>

Naruto’s handsome, all boyish charm and country-esque image that he wears on those flannels of his, it’s hard to ignore when he’s got hair the color of the sun and eyes deep like the ocean. Sasuke doesn’t think he stood a chance before, not when every fiber in his being kept telling him otherwise, but then he sees Naruto waiting near the entrance of Obito’s farm, loose jeans and easy smiles. Kurama at his side.

How’s he supposed to make out of this alive?

“You made it,” he’s got perfectly white teeth, set in a straight line, and he beams at him. Just him. All for him.

Sasuke didn’t think life could hold so much color, he’s beginning to think he hasn’t lived much at all. “At your service,” he grins.

“Come on, we’ve got to feed them before moving to the field and then we can clean out the barn, think one of the fence stations in the sheep paddocks needs a fixing.”

“Let’s get to it then,” Sasuke roams after him to the animals. Kurama helps steer the herd of sheep to the paddocks, one of them straggling behind that Sasuke has to physically guide it to the rest of the herd. One of the lambs won’t take the feed so Sasuke helps her to milk.

Naruto is watching him while he’s tying a rope to keep the barrier tight, “You’re good with animals.”

Sasuke mentions, “We used to have a chicken coop and goats at the house when we were younger. I’ve liked animals since I was a kid. Itachi is just allergic to the domestic ones.”

The sheep nuzzles into his palm much like dogs do, he feels around her thick coat and grooms the ruffled hair around her head. The soft folds of her ear flop down, he runs a thumb along the inside of them.

“You wanted a cat, right?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke smiles at Naruto remembering. “I don’t mind dogs though.” Kurama’s ear twitches before he’s prancing into Sasuke’s arms. He cuddles into the golden retriever. “They’re cute.”

Naruto bites down his lip, “So, say if you got a kitten you could raise it now since Itachi isn’t around?”

“That’s true, I could now. The opportunity never presented itself, I guess.”

“Hey, Sasuke,” Naruto ambles over to him, the sheep have successfully been let out into the field, “Come with me.”

He holds out his hand that Sasuke stares at for a moment before taking it, he stands up, but Naruto loosely clasps around his fingers. The touch sends tingles down Sasuke’s spine, he’s twenty-four going on twenty-five, there is no reason to be so happy over something so small, but his heart could burst at how nice their fingers feel tangled limply, improperly.

They enter the empty barn, Naruto takes him to the back with all the food and hay and there is a box, small blankets draped into it. Swaddled inside is a tiny kitten curled into herself.

Naruto explains scratching his cheek with his free hand, “I found her the other day—Obito’s been taking care of her until she’s better—she had a fever—but, uh.”

Sasuke finishes his sentence for him, “You got me a kitten…”

“Kinda,” Naruto’s face is furiously red, “It’s fine if you don’t want her, but if you do.”

Sasuke’s chest is about to give out. He’s delirious, this man is toying every pillar he’s built to hold himself upright, to keep those out that don’t belong, and here he comes earnest and giving.

“Do you want it?” Naruto finds his voice in him, in his eyes, Sasuke sees the feelings of his own heart. His heart does burst.

He scarcely manages, “I do.”

They spend the entire time doing odd jobs on the farm, Sasuke hoses down the sheep stalls and his old shoes have gunk around them that he doesn’t want to think about. Eventually, the sun’s saying goodbye under the horizon, and Naruto’s barging into the barndoor navigating the last of the sheep, and something else in hand.

“I found a bottle of rum,” Naruto inquisitively expects the bottle, “Should I be concerned it was hidden in the chicken coop?”

Sasuke takes it from him, “Only one way to find out.”

Admittedly, he takes those first four big gulps to give himself some liquid courage. Sasuke’s no coward, he’s never run away from anything in his life, he’s a sharpened bull who tackles everything head-on. But his heart hasn’t gotten the memo that if he needs to figure out this thing, this feeling around Naruto, it’s gotta take a seat in the backburner for a bit.

Naruto is stupidly lightweight. He’s laughing at Kurama running after the tabby cat that Sasuke saw slinking around the barn, his newly adopted kitten is sound asleep though as are the sheep. The blonde isn’t even loud, his laughs are more like chortles, breaking in intervals which of course makes Sasuke laugh, “You’ve got a funny laugh.”

The boy frowns, “Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not, it just makes me laugh.”

Naruto softens around the eyes at that, gummy expression overtaking his face, “That’s good then I like when I make you laugh.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it means I’m doing something right.”

Sasuke chews the inside of his cheek, they’re both inclined into bales of hay, “I doubt you can do any wrong in my eyes.”

Naruto hiccups his frown deepening, “Liar!” He meekly confesses, “I thought you hated me.”

“I didn’t. The house and being back in Konoha, it was everything else, not you.”

He belatedly adds, the bottle of alcohol jostling in his grip, “Besides, didn’t you feel the same.”

The other man flushes, “You just got under my skin.” Sasuke nods, but Naruto carries on, “I think I liked it.”

Fucking Naruto has no sense of self-preservation.

“That makes two of us,” Sasuke laughs lightly, but Naruto’s lopsided grin makes him cackle. They both dissolve into peals of laughter, bodies naturally gravitating to each other and at some point, Naruto’s only a breath away.

Sasuke’s laugh hasn’t even dried out yet but the warm breath on top of his lip brings him to a screeching halt. Naruto’s half-lidded gaze finds his equally dazed state. His pupils have dilated and Sasuke foolishly misses the blue he’d like to sink in, but it’s at a closer glance he sees it, the cobalt deepening.

“Your eyes are grey,” Naruto says.

He stupidly replies, “huh?”

“I always thought they were black but they’re grey.” All this time he’d been staring at Naruto’s eyes only to be told that the blonde was doing the same.

Absolutely bewildered, he tries to compensate, “too dark to tell; I think the distinction hardly matters.”

“It does,” Naruto’s resolute. Inching closer until there is a pregnant pause, the silence isn’t uncomfortable, but it doesn’t ease the swelling fervor in his stomach, “they’re pretty.”

“My eyes.”

Naruto closes the distance, the air around them crackles at the movement, “All of you.”

They crash into each other at once, clumsily without preamble of what they’re doing, or how to go about it. None of it makes sense, Sasuke’s spent the past two weeks trying to name whatever is brewing between them but only now that Naruto roughly presses his lips to Sasuke’s that he understands. He didn’t know what it was before or what he told himself to rationalize the bottomless feed of emotions growing inside of him.

He does now. Perfectly, succinctly, he understands in the way Naruto drops the bottle in favor of cupping Sasuke’s jaw, he takes Sasuke’s top lip between his plump lips cocooning it in its warmth, and it is clarity granting itself.

That snaps him out of his daze, he pushes back a bit forcibly and they both tug not to vanquish control from the other, but instead because there is urgency, it’s desperate and it’s messy. Their body moves in a sway by the push and pull each man propels. Sasuke’s never kissed a man. He has nothing to compare this to except his previous kisses. Naruto tastes sweet like the rum, Sasuke’s not fond of sweet, he hardly reaches for it on his own accord, but this is addicting, tantalizing.

Every stray thought ceases when his tongue licks the seam of Naruto’s mouth eliciting a soft sigh from the blonde into Sasuke’s scarcely parted mouth.

They’re equally frantic, Sasuke’s palms trace up to Naruto’s face his thumb rubbing at his temple, their teeth clash when they try to tilt their heads to adjust to each other’s mouths. Instinctively, he exhales heavily through his nose seeing that his mouth is otherwise occupied. He’s still short on air.

Once his lungs can’t take it anymore, they pull apart. Sasuke didn’t realize he closed his eyes, but they stay shut because there is no time to settle, Naruto’s diving in for another kiss, it’s chaste this time, not as intense, but the passion is still present.

One, two, three pecks, it’s like Naruto’s in a state of disbelief and kissing Sasuke is the only way to confirm the reality around him. Sasuke’s not one to complain, everything with them has been building up to this and they’ve finally reached the breaking point; the edge of the cliff no longer in sight, it’s a freefall. What he can do though is move himself so he’s hovering over Naruto. His foot knocks into the bottle of rum and the alcohol seeps into the earth-packed floor which separates them from each other.

Sasuke’s fingers are still pressed down on Naruto’s jaws, the pressure leaving shallow indents. Naruto struggles to say, it’s a hardship because his chest is heaving, and his eyes are glossed over and his bottom lip has a crust of drying blood where Sasuke’s teeth had nicked.

“The rum…”

He swipes a thumb over the cut, voice scratchy, “Yeah.”

He hesitantly extracts himself from Naruto’s lap, disoriented when he stands up. Everything about the situation hasn’t quite settled in yet so he busies himself by searching around, “I’ll get a rag.” There is no point in one since the ground is swallowing up the liquid, absorbing it already leaving behind a wet splotch, but Sasuke still moves away from Naruto to break eye-contact. Standing there was becoming too much, not helping him catch the breath the blonde had stolen to keep.

Naruto discards the empty bottle into the trash, Kurama barks at him when he staggers back to the center of the byre, “We should…uh go.”

“Right,” Sasuke nods. Should they talk about it? Is Naruto even sober? Is this something that’s happened before? Sasuke loses momentum at the thought that Naruto’s done this before with someone—he’s well aware that the man isn’t a stranger to skinship and given the alcohol people do stupid things, things they wouldn’t do sober. That’s not what it meant for Sasuke. He feels like he’s fished out his own heart and put it on display for Naruto.

Was everything in his head after all?

Naturally, it’s a painful epiphany especially now when he knows why he feels the way he does. The whole room's atmosphere dampens as soon as Sasuke meets Naruto halfway. Summer was at its peak yet a thin layer of cold settles over the two men. He could feel the air weighing down on his chest, could almost see it whirling into puffs of smoke.

They exit the barn and Naruto closes the door properly behind himself, the trek back to Obito’s house is short and strained. Kurama’s characteristic glee the only stagnant emotion between them. Nearing the porch Sasuke waits for an invite inside which is silly because this place is owned by his first cousin, his family, but instead, it’s Naruto’s permission he’s seeking.

“About what happened…” Naruto starts.

Sasuke’s heartbeat is in his ears pressed right next to his eardrum loud and prominent. Naruto’s shoulders are slackened down and his puppy circles his feet trying to fetch for his attention. Sasuke feels a little like him wanting Naruto to just look at him, even if it’s to tell him off, anything is better than nothing.

The blonde crouches down at an angle, his side profile is so handsome, Sasuke wants to reach over and tell him _hey don’t worry I’d never do anything to hurt you_. But the face he puts on is far more devastating attached to the words he speaks, in a measured tone to not let emotion betray his voice, what a stupid man he doesn’t even realize his face tells Sasuke all.

“I’m sorry I was drunk I don’t know what came over me,” Kurama nuzzles into his palm, Naruto continues far too sober to be saying that, taking all the blame, “I’d understand if you would like to keep distance. But I’m really sorry.”

Decisively, he lifts his head in Sasuke’s direction, his eyes are a turbulent storm and Sasuke desires nothing more than to bring peace to them. So, he offers a solution throwing an ax onto what’s left in his chest, “That’s fine. You don’t have to worry about it, it was just a drunken mistake. We can just forget about it.” It all comes out so mechanical.

Naruto crumbles into ruin, it’s something to commend that his voice doesn’t shake, “Thanks.”

So, they try to move on.

>>>>

Naruto doesn’t show up for a whole week. Suigetsu informs everyone he’s got a stomach bug, but Sasuke knows that’s a lie. He knows because Obito called him and asked him if he knew why Naruto is staying at his apartment instead of his dad’s for the week when he’s supposed to be working on the house. He also knows because just like him Sasuke hasn’t found purpose in sitting in the veranda and reading or even helping the men since his hand is fully healed. No one says anything it’s not like you can call out the guy who hired you for slacking.

Sasuke calls home. He calls Sakura. He even calls Shikamaru. That’s how much time he has on his hands.

He pretends it’s not because he’s missing the blonde and every second spent not doing something is spent thinking about him and Sasuke promised he’d do a little less of that going forward. It’s hard. The hardest he’s ever had to try.

>>>>

There is a storm on Wednesday. There are never storms on Wednesdays. That’s what he knows because when he was a child he’d listlessly hope for their school to close due to heavy downpour and frigid winds, but they always fell on the weekends. And Sasuke hated it with every ounce of him, the ineffectual parts of him that couldn’t do anything to bring the storm during school days.

But today there is a storm on a Wednesday. Wind thrashes against the screen doors so Sasuke draws the wooden panel over them, the veranda is closed from the house and the windows are the only remaining escape to the outside. Raindrops pelt against the glass, Sasuke’s got his feet pushed under the kotatsu nursing the dregs of his basil honey tea, it’s his least favorite one so far. The selection at the grocery store wasn’t huge but he’d counted on the honey cutting the strong taste of basil.

It doesn’t it’s properly bitter and the scent is headache-inducing. The tea sits torpidly on his tongue waiting to be washed down by a glass of water or something.

No one showed up for work today as expected so he was mostly left to his own devices. His mother had phoned earlier to ask if he’s alright and prepared for the storm. Weather reports said it’ll stretch into Friday but those are never reliable. One year the predictions for snow were so high during Christmas that everyone had eagerly looked forward to it. On the day of there was hardly any, the flakes melting before they could even touch the ground.

Near 11 o’clock there is a tick tick noise at the door. Sasuke pauses reading. His heart begins to race at the familiarity of the action. He tells himself it’s the rain assailing the screens. He goes back to reading.

After a breath of a moment, the noise starts up again. This time it’s a knee-jerk reaction dropping his book on the ground, not even taking the time to wear his slippers, and running to the door. He hurriedly runs down the uneven steps and his elbow knocks into the wall and he’s in overdrive.

He pushes the door open.

Sasuke’s heart jumps to his throat, snuggly finding space in the narrow pipe.

Naruto’s drenched from top to bottom, clothes sagging due to the torrential downpour, his hair is curtaining his forehead, mouth turned in a deep frown. Under the light of the front entrance, Sasuke can clearly see the blue of his eyes.

Thunder crackles above them and Sasuke pushes a handout from below the small awning he’s safely dry under, “Naruto! What are you doing? Get in here it’s raining cats and dogs.”

At first, he thinks he won’t get an answer. But then Naruto shakes his head, telling him it’s fine where he is. “No, not before I say what I have to say.”

“Why can’t you say it inside the house? You’re going to get sick!”

“Because I don’t trust myself around you!” He shouts back and Sasuke steels at the emotion affecting his lilt. “So, I have to say it! Here!”

Sasuke knows they’re equally stubborn and this could go on for a while if he doesn’t give the other man an inch, “Fine.” It comes out a lot softer than he intends and worries the other hasn’t heard him. He has.

“I wasn’t drunk,” Naruto’s admission thrusts forward the night from a week or so ago, memories Sasuke’s been trying to bury. “I knew what I was doing and I wanted to do it. I’ve been wanting to do it for a while now.”

He doesn’t speak because he figures Naruto needs to say this, he needs to get this out, “I’ve wanted to kiss you since the day at the lake or—” he breaks into a breathless chuckle, “Maybe even before, maybe when we fixed the screen, maybe when I first saw you.”

_You didn’t like me then_ , Sasuke wonders to himself. Naruto reads his mind like he knows every worry plaguing Sasuke, “I thought I didn’t like you. I thought you were bitter and terrible and awful but kept thinking I want to see you smile and then you _did_ and I thought everything I’ve been thinking was wrong. Because you’re not any of that—you’re—”

Sasuke chest thuds proudly, a told you so melodically sounding against his ribs. “We decided to forget about it, but I can’t all I know how to do is think about you, what you’re doing, if you ate, what kind of tea you tried today—”

He manages a small laugh at that, his lips curving up and Naruto grins at that. One corner of Sasuke’s mouth stays stretching in a crooked smile. Naruto points it out, “See you’re doing it again looking like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you want me to be the reason you smile.”

Sasuke’s lungs give out at that. Naruto isn’t done, the grin slides from his face into a serious countenance, he runs a hand through his hair and his eyes shine in affected emotion, “I’m in, Sasuke. I’m all in. And part of me keeps thinking you kissed me back, you _wanted_ to kiss me back, so please tell me—please tell me or else—”

For the life of him, he can’t find his voice. Naruto’s dulls at his quiet. He steps back, “Alright—that’s fine—it’s fine—”

Sasuke never runs unless he’s running towards what he wants. His body moves on its own, uncaring of his bare feet digging into wet soil, rain coming down on him in buckets, but it’s instinctive, it’s natural, it’s from deep inside of him. Last thing he sees before he buries fingers in the wealth of Naruto’s hair, tips finding purchase at the back of his head, is the blonde’s eyes widening.

Their heads move in sync knocking into one another in a bruising, fiery kiss. The world falls away. Naruto opens his mouth and begs to taste Sasuke, the water trickles down the slope of their noses and their breathing is shallow and parched—even with all the water gracelessly falling on them, Sasuke’s gasping for what Naruto’s mouth has to offer.

He pushes the back of Naruto’s head closer, sighs heavily into the gap of their lips, massaging the blonde’s bottom lip in between his own, “I’m in.” He’s breathless, the words struggle to leave the tip of his tongue that rather be curling around Naruto, “All in.”

Naruto draws back and Sasuke uncharacteristically draws a sound from the back of his throat, a craving whimper. He touches his forehead to Sasuke’s, their noses brushing, “Are you sure?”

“With everything in me,” Sasuke confesses, their billowing breaths mingling in the feeble distance they’ve set between each other.

Naruto’s smile is so bright it scatters the gloomy clouds suspended over them, it lightens the heavy stone on his chest he had been bearing for the past week, but most of all, it knocks the fucking breath out of Sasuke.

“Come on then,” Sasuke drags him to the door, “You’ll catch a cold.”

The door closes behind them, both of their clothes sopping wet, creating puddles at the bottom of the steps. Sasuke grimaces at the dirt on his feet, Naruto must see, “I’m sorry.”

Quickly he turns to correct him, “Don’t be stupid I ran to you.”

“Yeah,” Naruto bites down on his lip to stop a full smile.

The sight squeezes Sasuke’s chest so he dips forward from his place on the first step, fingers lightly touching the shell of his ear, and places a close-mouthed innocent kiss, “Stay here, I’ll get you a towel.”

Sasuke walks to the bathroom first to wash the muck from his feet then quickly takes out the towels from the closet. He chooses the biggest one and makes his way back to Naruto who’s quietly waiting for him. Putting the towel over the blonde’s head he rubs his hair to dry, Naruto peeks from beneath the fringe, “Sasuke, what does this mean?”

He hasn’t thought that far yet.

“How about you come in, I’ll find you a change of clothes and make us some tea. Then we can talk?”

Naruto nods, he loosely clutches the sleeve of his tee and steps forward crowding Sasuke’s personal space, “You didn’t say if you…if you felt the same.”

Sasuke tickles amusement, laughing in disbelief, “I kissed you.”

“But I want to hear it too,” Naruto’s adamantly pouting, a towel covering his head, eyes gleaming a bit. Sasuke cups the side of his face and Naruto leans into the palm, kissing where Sasuke’s got a noticeable scar.

“I hate when you don’t look at me,” Sasuke admits, “But it drives me nuts when you do. Because all I’ve managed to accomplish in the past two months is think about you.”

“I won’t stop looking then,” Naruto’s cheeks swell in a pinkish shade, “Couldn’t help it even if I tried.”

Sasuke kisses him again. He can do that now. So, he indulges in it. A soft one again, “good.”

He leaves Naruto to change in the living room getting out of his drenched shirt and joggers. He doesn’t bother finding himself a t-shirt it’s cold enough that he tugs on a light sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants.

_What does this mean_. A grating sigh pulls out of him, his shoulders no longer tense still feel a different kind of heaviness to them, there is so much he needs to consider going into this. Suddenly, the largeness of everything they’ve admitted to each other in the deafening nature of the storm dawns on him.

Naruto knocks on his door, Sasuke looks up and would you look at that the heavy sensation is weightless once more, “Hey.”

“Hi there.”

Naruto grins, the tiny Uchiha crest on his shirt prominent, and god Sasuke wants to kiss him again. He doesn’t think he’ll stop wanting that any time soon.

“I put the clothes in the dryer I guess the boys fixed it while I was awol.”

Sasuke complains, albeit a smidge childishly, “You mean when you were ignoring me.”

Naruto immediately frowns, it’s comical almost, “I was going through something okay, I couldn’t even go home because if I did Dad would know, you don’t know how I was hardly functioning—”

“So? Ever thought how I felt?” Sasuke’s feigns offense, goes as far as pouting.

Naruto frantically crosses over to him, “I’ll make it up to you! I promise! I won’t ever leave you again!”

“Promise?” Sasuke hovers closer and Naruto is so fucking stupid he doesn’t even comprehend how the raven is clearly kidding. “I’d be very upset, y’know. No more smiling for you.”

Naruto looks the picture of devastation which admittedly makes Sasuke feel a little bad, “Ne, Sasuke, don’t say that, I really am sorry, I promise—”

Sasuke starts laughing. Naruto’s cheeks flame at what’s happening. He cuffs his shoulder, light punches but Sasuke’s shaking in a fit of laughter to care, “You asshole! Bastard! Fuckface! You had me so worried!”

“You like my smiles that bad?” Sasuke teases.

Naruto’s brows pull down, “I told you. If I could I’d have you always smiling.”

“Then I’d look like the joker, Naruto, I don’t think I can pull the slightly deranged look off.”

“You sure?” Naruto counters, thoughtfully.

It’s Sasuke’s turn to smack him upside down, “Dumbass.”

“So, mean!” Naruto cutely rubs at his head, “You’re supposed to be nicer to me now since you know we—you know—” Naruto can’t even say it out loud his face is liquid lava spreading over his skin. 

Sasuke side-steps him to hide the heat in his own cheeks, putting up a nonchalant front, “You can’t even say it, Naruto.”

“Oh, shut up!”

Sasuke makes his favorite tea. Green tea is simple, but it does the job, it’s comforting, it’s reminiscent of long nights of studying his first year at college and his father bringing him a cup in the study. Naruto’s smile widening appreciatively at being handed a cup, they both settle opposite to one another feet tucked under the kotatsu. The distance is too much for Sasuke’s liking, but he understands that they have a very important conversation ahead of them which can’t be done if they’re distracted by errant urges.

Sasuke speaks first, “I want you to know before anything else that I’m serious about this. This isn’t a fluke or mere curiosity.”

“Me too.”

“Okay.” Sasuke has to ask the next question to sort everything in his head, “Have you ever…? Like. I’m a man.”

“I know you’re a man,” Naruto handsomely beams up at him. Sasuke’s fingers twitch at his sides, “But no, uh, it’s a first for me. What about you?”

“Same. I mean, I always thought me recognizing a guy is good looking was just me being secure in my own looks but now I’m wondering if it was something else altogether.”

“That makes sense.” He slouches onto the wooden surface, he shyly asks, “Does that mean you think I’m…?” He rests his forehead on it now, hiding from Sasuke’s thoughtful gaze, “This is so embarrassing.”

Gently he cards fingers through Naruto’s hair, “You can ask me anything.”

“Not when my stupid heart is beating out of my chest.”

Sasuke preens at the declaration, his chest feels the same turbulence, “I think you’re very handsome, Naruto.”

Naruto jerks up, rosy cheeks and cobalt eyes, “I think you’re—”

“Pretty I know you said at the barn.”

“Everything,” Naruto amends, “You’re everything.”

Sasuke lifts a hand to his own face, he mutters hopelessly, “Christ, we’re not getting anywhere.”

Naruto reaches out to nimbly pull Sasuke’s hand from his face, “Don’t hide.”

Sasuke’s throat aches in a swollen happiness, heat simmering at the surface of his skin. He pushes past the emotions overwhelming him, “I’ve dated women before but everything I’m feeling right now is new and unprecedented. I don’t want to take it lightly.”

“Neither do I.”

"This doesn't feel wrong."

"It doesn't."

“What do you suggest then? This is your hometown, Naruto, and Obito has told me of people and everything that comes along with it. I have no intention of making it harder for you—”

Naruto is secure and resolute, it spins Sasuke’s head, “I want you everything else is simply secondary.”

“Me too,” Sasuke decisively agrees, “So, guess that means we’re boyfriends.”

Naruto’s eyes widen happily, “Boyfriend?”

“I think, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They talk some more after that. Ending up deciding it’d be best to keep quiet about everything because you can’t account for anyone’s reactions. Naruto feels apprehensive hiding something from Karin and Suigetsu and his father, but Sasuke’s chosen to not let his mother nor brother know either at least for now. It’s mutual everything they decide. This is all unfamiliar terrain for both men and they don’t want to ruin it by involving people who might not react to their new preferences kindly.

It’s nearing one am when Naruto yawns into the crook of his arm, he sleepily rubs at his eyes and even that gets Sasuke’s heart in a ditty, “Sorry, I barely slept the past week I think it’s all catching up to me I should head out.”

Sasuke proposes instead, covering the distance between them to touch his forearm, “You can sleep here. Enough space.”

Naruto’s ears turn bright red, “Are you sure?”

“We’ve shared a bed before this isn’t any different.”

“It is though.”

“Hrm?”

Sheepishly Naruto scratches his cheek watching Sasuke unfurl the futon and sheets on the living room floor where he’s been sleeping all this time, “For starters, I don’t know if I can curb the desire to touch you.”

Sasuke drags him to the soft mattress, brushing the hair out of his face, “You can touch me as you please, Naruto.” Naruto softens over the permission, “But you’re dead-tired and I’m not faring well either so how about we come back to it?”

“Sounds good.”

>>>>

Sasuke wakes up to Naruto’s nose nuzzled next to his throat, soft wispy breaths fluttering out of his slightly parted mouth over the mound of the raven’s Adam’s apple.

People spend so much time trying to figure out what they want, how did he end up in a place where he knows exactly what he wants and gets to have it too? His body follows his thoughts because the arm he’s got thrown over Naruto’s side curls a bit tighter, drawing him in. It’s a startling recognition that Naruto’s all muscle and wide shoulders, he’s got rough hands and strong legs one of which rests between the tangle of his own. Sasuke can’t say he dislikes it, in fact, he likes it a lot. The way they fit together so seamlessly. Like it’s the easiest puzzle in the world to put together, all his pieces matching to Naruto’s.

He keeps his eyes closed for the better part of the hour. As he’d predicted the storm washed over during the night, the sun blazing outside now. Naruto peels his eyes open to the caress of golden light streaming in through the windows, Sasuke notices flecks of gold residing in the cobalt blue but it’s gone all too soon because Naruto’s scrunching his eyes to keep the light out.

“It’s almost nine,” Sasuke says mindlessly, he doesn’t mean anything by it, it’s simply to fill the tender peace around them.

“Can I sleep in?” Naruto slurs along the skin of Sasuke’s throat, the movement his mouth makes sends whisper-thin shivers down the man’s spine.

Sasuke doesn’t want to correct him that as opposed to usual this does count as sleeping in for the blonde. He’s usually upright with the sun and how appropriate is that, isn’t it?

Instead, he mumbles a sure into the tufts of hair tickling his own nose, he stays put for a bit before deciding on that he needs a shower. Slowly he removes his limbs from where they’re wrapped around Naruto, pushing the comforter away to get on his feet. The other man whines at the missing warmth, stretching his arms out before laying on his back.

Sasuke steps onto the hard floor and tugs out of his sweatshirt, it’s second nature to him to slip out of his clothes, he doesn’t think twice about the reflex. Not until a drawn-out sigh impels him to turn around.

Naruto’s got his cheek squished on the pillow, hazily curious eyes are roaming from head to toe, a blush rising over cheeks swollen from sleep.

“What?” Sasuke arches a brow.

Naruto shakes his head before clumsily burying it in the futon, then he’s peaking from the gaps between his fingers, “It’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

“You’re the least aware human in existence,” Naruto counters sitting up. His hair awry, cheeks reddening, eyes a hazy storm. “Have some tact, okay.”

“You’re the one who keeps checking me out,” Sasuke nonchalantly says.

Naruto squawks miserably, “I was not! I was just!”

“Just what?”

Sasuke crosses his arms over his chest, encouraging Naruto to speak, “Well?”

“Come here,” Naruto beckons. Sasuke goes.

Easily the other man draws him next to him, Sasuke sitting on his knees, and Naruto is charming in the soft hours of the early morning. He slides an open palm to the sharp cut of Sasuke’s jaw, and mumbles furtively, terribly fond, “Must’ve done something right because I can’t believe I get to have you.”

Sasuke’s never been cheesy like this before, he’s never even been openly affectionate, he silently wonders if it’s cause he’s been hoarding it greedily all these years so he could shower Naruto and only Naruto with them. Lessening the space between them he drops a chaste kiss on his boyfriend’s mouth. Naruto sighs at the pressure on his lips.

“Now can I shower?”

“Hurry back or I’ll miss you too much.”

His low, raspy whine tickles twinkling notes of laughter out of Sasuke.

Naruto’s dressed in his flannel and loose jeans once again when Sasuke gets out of the shower. He’s on the phone with someone, so Sasuke busies himself getting breakfast ready. He goes for an omelet, chops onions and parsley, a few of the ripe tomatoes he’d gotten from Tsume’s store and green chili peppers. The nonstick pan sizzles with the drizzle of oil, he beats the yolk and adds the vegetables in, a dash of pepper, salt, crushed red pepper, and cumin. Whisking it all together he pours it onto the pan on a low heat.

He’s getting the juice from the fridge when Naruto steps into the kitchen, “It smells so good what are you making?”

“Omelet.”

“Oh, wait, I’ve never had it this way,” Naruto peers into the empty bowl and quickly forming egg mixture on the pan. “He cooks, he cleans, he’s got a degree, aren’t I a lucky guy?”

“Get the toast going, stupid,” Sasuke rolls his eyes at Naruto’s wide grin. “Who called?”

“Oh, Dad, he was just wondering if I could stop by. He needed a few errands done and stuff.”

Naruto picks up the leftover tomato and sniffs it. Sasuke can’t hide the disappointment plaguing his next question, “So, you’re going to leave soon?”

“Yeah once we eat,” he sidles up to him, Sasuke’s got a spatula in one hand and the other resting around the handle of the pan.

“What?”

Naruto’s chin tips down sheepishly, “Two things.”

“Go on.”

“I need a toothbrush to—”

“Just use mine,” Sasuke fiddles with the flame, turning it up a bit.

Naruto crows, “Ew, gross, Sasuke! Don’t you have an extra?”

“We already exchanged spit what different does a toothbrush makes?”

Naruto goes quiet. Sasuke glances to his side to see what’s wrong only to see the man struck in horror, a deep peachy red painting over his face, “You do remember, last night, right?”

“Of course,” he covers his mouth, muffling the rest of the sentence, “You’re far too bold.”

Sasuke laughs out loud, “I won’t apologize for my honesty. What’s the second thing?”

“Oh!” Naruto lights up visibly at that, “Do you have plans for today?”

“Yes, my book and all the free time I’ll be spending thinking about you today. Important business, y’know.”

Naruto helps him set the table, he’s blushing again, “Stop picking on me, I’m serious.”

“I am too?” Sasuke pointedly raises a brow.

“Whatever, did you wanna go to the movies? We can go to Ichiraku’s later too. They’ve got a special deal on Thursday buy two bowls and get a third one for free!”

“You’re a cheap date,” Sasuke gets his toast from the plate Naruto set them in, “A bargain date.”

“So, you _do_ want this to be a date.”

“My boyfriend is asking me to take time out of my intensely busy schedule for dinner and movies if it’s not a date then—”

“No, no! It is, it totally is.” Naruto doesn’t eat the crust of his toast, he peels them from the center of the bread and leaves it to the side.

“I guess I’ll go with you if you’re insisting that much,” Sasuke’s long-suffering sigh adds to his dramatics. He picks the leftover crust out of his boyfriend’s plate and eats them.

Naruto taps his hand over the breakfast they’re having, smiling at Sasuke eating the burnt edges, “Don’t sound so bothered! You’ll have fun!”

>>>>

Sasuke settles on some shorts and a clean black v-neck. He ties his hair in a loose bun and the wristwatch his dad got him for his 21st. He looks decent, he thinks.

Naruto arrives right when he told him he would. The expected tick tick on the door alerts him of the man’s arrival, gathering his keys and wallet from the kitchen table, he turns off the lights behind himself. He steps outside into the tepid air leftover from the storm, the front of the property soaked in puddles and the driveway distantly dry.

“Sorry I was late my sister was being a pain in the ass because I wouldn’t help her move stuff around her room, she’s one of those people that needs to move the furniture around once a year to have the assurance their life is put together,” Naruto rants about the trials of having an older sister who uses him as a pack-mule from time to time.

Sasuke should be guilty for not listening but he’s pointedly distracted by what Naruto’s wearing.

“Naruto—”

“And then she says she needs me to empty the attic because there is no reason for us to not rent out the space—like for fuck’s sake I get one day off and this woman thinks—”

“Naruto—”

“You know I don’t even mind helping from time to time but it’s like her evil witch sister senses were tingling and she _knew_ I had to be—hey are you listening to me—”

“No,” Sasuke honestly answers, “I am trying though.”  
  


“Ne, Sasuke, my sister is out to get me, pay attention to me.”  
  


“That’s the problem I am paying attention to you,” he gesticulates to Naruto’s outfit, “Are you wearing real jeans?”

Naruto freezes momentarily, he awkwardly rubs the nape of his neck, “Yeah, well, this is a date, right? I wanted to look good.”

“So you wore real jeans.”

“Yes.” Then adds, “I’ve been told they—y’know.”

Sasuke bites the inside of his gums, “Turn around, would you.”

“Wahh, why do you live to embarrass me!”

Sasuke playfully wags his index finger in a twirl, “Come on, don’t get shy on me now.”

Naruto huffs and puffs cutely before turning his back to Sasuke.

He lets out a whistle and the tip of Naruto’s ears turn red, “Well I’ll be damned.”

The blonde immediately turns back again to a Sasuke bursting into a fit of laughter, the light mortification on his face slips into a laugh of his own, loud and full. They both catch their breath, Sasuke still at his door, he lifts a lazy shoulder, “You look good.”

Naruto swallows around his words, “You too.”

They go to one of those old theaters that play re-runs of old movies. Naruto stands at the concierge’s desk, “Two tickets to World War Z.”

The girls cut the slip and hands it over with his credit card. Sasuke gets the snacks and asks, “I didn’t know you liked apocalyptic movies.”

“Oh, I don’t,” Naruto is shoving the receipt and card in the folds of his wallet. He beams at him once he pushes it into his pocket, “But you do.”

Sasuke blinks, “How’d you know…?”

“You’ve been reading that worn-out copy of Battle Royale for the past two months,” Naruto climbs around the steps to their seats, he takes the popcorn from Sasuke so he can sit down. “Either you’re a terribly slow reader which I find very hard to believe or you love that book and like savoring each detail.”

Naruto speaks around a mouthful of kernels, “And that book is on its last leg so deductive reasoning.”

Sasuke is awestruck, he takes the risk, thanks to the darkness of the theater, and laces his right hand with Naruto’s left. Naruto turns to him and smiles.

Over the next two hours, Sasuke learns that Naruto’s a wimp when it comes to movies with any sort of jumpscares. He startles so many times that they’ve got popcorn falling on the ground. Eventually, Sasuke takes the bucket from him to keep in his lap which only frees Naruto’s hand to clutch onto the raven as his dear life depended on it.

The movie is good and Naruto excitedly recounts every scene he enjoyed as the lights warm up around them as if they just hadn’t finished the movie less than five minutes ago. The people start standing and instinctively their joined hands loosen but then Naruto’s stuffing them down the side of his seat at an angle no one can tell.

Sasuke’s so warm not because he’s afraid someone might catch them, but because this man has him feeling indestructible. He doesn’t care what anyone has to say as long as Naruto keeps looking at him with those brilliant blue eyes and easy smiles. His heart has already chosen a home for itself, who’s he to tell it an otherwise?

“Man, I’m starving,” Naruto stretches his arms, the dandelion colored shirt lifting around his middle. Sasuke darts his eyes away.

“How far is the ramen place?”

“Oh, right, I never took you to it. It’s actually a stall, kinda. We can just walk there if you’d like since we parked your car in the lot here.”

“That’s fine with me.”

Teuchi is an old man, older than Minato, he’s got kind eyes and he listens to Naruto’s account of the movie in rapt attention. Ayame ruffles his hair and politely nods at Sasuke. Everywhere Sasuke goes in this town, these people welcome Naruto with an open arm and full smiles. He’s so loved. And Sasuke’s chest fills up at that.

Now he gets to do that too. Love Naruto. Be loved by him.

The meal is warm and delicious. It’s too fucking hot for ramen but Naruto loves this place and the food so who cares what the weather has to say. Besides, it was storming yesterday so who knows maybe it’ll rain tonight too.

Lock of strands fall out of his loose bun, Sasuke’s slurping up noodles so he can’t push them away, but Naruto’s fingers are doing so without him asking. Sasuke watches from the corner of his eyes, the owner has disappeared towards the kitchen area, his daughter assisting him, the blonde lightly brushes at the skin below his eyes.

“Anything else, boys?” Naruto draws his hand back and says, “We’re good, thank you!”

By the time they’re done it’s nearing nine, good food and conversation swept the time away. Sasuke pays for the meal and they begin walking back to the car.

“You really think you could down six bowls? I think you’re gloating you barely finished the second one.”

“That’s because it’s hot, Naruto, if this was winter then sure yeah I could eat six.”

Naruto’s eyes ablaze in a challenge, “Fine, we’ll come back and then just watch I’ll beat you then too!”

They’re now at the parking lot, Naruto touches Sasuke’s knuckles to confirm the self-prompted challenge, Sasuke rolls his eyes, “Fine, fine, over the winter we can see who can eat the most.”

The blonde beams, doesn’t get to speak though because of the foreign voice interrupting him, “Uzumaki you’re out causing trouble again?”

The remark doesn’t carry Tsume’s casual fondness, it’s snide and rude, an older woman gets out of her car carrying a purse, another person exiting the front seat, “Yo, blondie.”

Naruto goes rigid next to him, his shoulders touching Sasuke’s, “I’m not in the mood, Baku.”

“You’ve still got that mouth on you,” the man has a stern look, a few years older by the lines of his face, then drifts his gaze to Sasuke, “Who’s this?”

Instinctively the blonde pulls him by the shoulder, tugging him to the car, “No one. We’re leaving.”

The older woman notices and caws, “You’re Madara’s nephew, aren’t you? Obito’s cousin. A spitting image.”

Sasuke steels at that, face hardening as he doesn’t like the tone she uses to address his cousin. “Yeah.”

Baku’s narrows his eyes in a vapid scorn, “What’s it like having a cousin who is shacked up with a man? You’re from the city, no? They’ve got a bunch of _those_ there.”

He’s clenching his fist before he can reign in control, “Listen piece of shit—”

The other man clearly startles, mouth set in a grim line and ready to approach him. The older woman though gives him a snide glare before holding her son back, “We have to shop.”

Naruto flips him off and Baku shouts profanities, “Hang around Obito enough and you’ve got men acting like pansies.”

They ignore him. The atmosphere in the car is tight until Sasuke turns into his property. Naruto has been looking out of the window the entire drive. He debates it at first but then decides he should, so he reaches over the center console to squeeze Naruto’s thigh, “You alright?”

“Yeah, I guess. Just annoyed.”

“Wanna talk about it? I’ll listen.”

He faces him, hands fiddling in his lap, “If we date openly, we’re going to have to deal with people like Baku and his family isn’t tolerant either.”

“Yeah, think that’s inevitable here.”

“Obito’s dealt with this shit all his life. Most of the time no one says anything, but there are always families and people who are reserved because of which Obito tends the farm by himself.”

Sasuke can feel the anger boiling in his stomach, “No one wants to help him?”

“Not unless it’s one of my guys. They don’t care nor do their families, but this town is bigger than just that. No one wants to send their kids to do summer jobs at his like you could at the other farms,” Naruto releases a grating sigh.

He face drops at the implications, “You’re kidding me. Because what? He likes a man?”

Naruto’s hand settles on the hand he’d forgotten in the man’s lap, “Not everyone is understanding, or they are but there is still a stigma. That’s why my guys and I help as much as we can. Kakashi’s asked your cousin to sell the land and he brings enough money to live comfortably but.”

“The farm makes him happy,” Sasuke blows air out of his nose. “Christ, what the hell is wrong with people…”

Naruto is quiet. The next time he breaks the silence, his voice is tight, “I’d understand if you change your mind because—”

“What?” He blurts in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m giving you the option,” Naruto pins him down despite his gaze, it pierces at Sasuke’s chest and he has half a mind to turn the car around and deal with these people firsthand. But that’s not what the other would want, “What we’re doing is…there is too much risk attached and I don’t want anyone to say things to you like they do to Obito.”

“I said I’m all in, Naruto, I’m not running away at the first sign of trouble, besides didn’t you say most of the town is moving away from their archaic way of thinking.”

“Yeah,” he runs a hand through his hair.

Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose, turns out it’s Naruto’s turn to soothe him, “I’m not afraid of what happens to me if the word gets out. My feelings for you aren’t fickle.”

“Neither are mine.” Sasuke cranes his neck over to kiss Naruto’s forehead, his bangs are styled so they’re brushed to one side in a comma, “Don’t give me an out. I don’t want one, okay?”

“Okay.”

Naruto laughs to himself, “Well that was a heavy topic for a first date.”

“It’s the best date I’ve had so we can forgive the end,” Sasuke assures him.

“Really?” Naruto’s so hopeful, so bright-eyed and full of love. Heart on his sleeve.

Sasuke is helpless no matter how hard he tries, he dives in to steal a chaste kiss, Naruto urgently holds his face to get him to stay. The kiss is awkward given how they’re sitting. It’s perfect for them. Naruto kisses him again at the door, swaying inside to hide from unsuspecting eyes as if their nearest neighbor isn’t a couple of acres over.

When he goes to sleep it’s, the warmth nuzzling in his chest, Naruto’s taste on his mouth and the eagerness for the next day. He doesn’t think about the bad and the terrible. He thinks of Naruto’s smiles, the butterflies that steal his sleep each night, summer storm eyes and the boy who’s got a hook around his heart.


	4. iv.

Sasuke sits on the dewy grass blades, the ground beneath him a touch too damp meaning he’s bound to have stains on his jeans—they’re light-wash too, but he’s too caught up in playing with the lamb to care. The little guy is wobbly on his legs, the knees shaking as he neighs into Sasuke’s lap.

“—anyway, he ended up getting me the tractor after two whole months of complaining,” Obito ends the long-standing grievance of his about Kakashi’s tyrant ways of not wanting to have gratuitous expenditure, he’s shaving the sheep as he does so.

Sasuke mulls over it, “So, did you actually use the thing?”

Obito deadpans, “That’s not the point.”

“Ah,” Sasuke snickers, the lamb mewls after the feed in his hand, “So, he _was_ right.”

“Oi! You’re my blood so you have to be on my side,” Obito wags around the blade he’s holding.

Sasuke shrugs, “Sure.” He debates for less than a second, “By the way…”

“What?” Obito narrows his eyes, “out with it come on.”

“I’m seeing someone,” Sasuke confesses. He came to this decision after talking to Naruto. Telling the two men was fine. “It’s pretty new.”

Obito’s mouth drops open, “Shut up? Here? Who? Don’t tell me it’s Ino.”

Sasuke makes a disgruntled face, “What in god’s name gave you that idea?”

“Naruto wouldn’t shut up about how she’s prowling you—yes he used that exact word—and how she’s _so_ not your type and she’s a brat for being so flaky about relationships and something else about Konoha men, to be honest, recently he’s always talking about you I’ve started tuning out mid-conversations.”

Goddamn Naruto, he grins to himself. There is no control over how his body reacts to knowing Naruto’s stupidly running his mouth talking about him, of him, to people the man considers his closest.

Obito befuddles over the silence, picking up his head from his work, “Shit?”

“You didn’t even let me break the news, toto,” Sasuke rolls his eyes, pouting a bit, “But sorry for guessing the wrong blonde.”

“You and Naruto!?” Obito stands up instantly, the half-shaven sheep padding away from his clutches, “You _and_ Naruto!”

Sasuke can’t hold back the smile, showing his teeth, cradling the baby sheep in his arm, “Yep.”

“When? How? Wait, you were—I thought you liked women.”

“Clearly, I thought wrong.”

“Oh my god,” Obito is in utter shock. “Tell me everything.”

He does. He is giddy to share this with someone. The dam breaks and everything comes pouring out, “He drives me crazy. Like god, he’s just so? He’s so—” He’s never had a hard time putting words together. Naruto does that to him. Makes him speechless.

“Naruto,” Obito fills the rest.

“Yeah, he’s always smiling at me and looking at me and I think my heart rate has reached new heights since I’ve arrived to Konoha.”

Obito laughs, “You know that never goes away.”

“What?”

He shakes half a shoulder, “That feeling. People will tell you it fades or lessens or dims over time. That’s not what happens, it gets softer around the edges, but that heart-racing, insanity you feel right now? It stays the same. Kakashi drove me nuts when we were in High School and he still drives me up the wall the same. All he needs to do is look at me.”

The knowledge of this lasting into a comfortable place as it has for Obito burgeons him with excitement for the future, settles warmly in his chest, “Good to know because I have never felt this before and have no plan on stopping any time soon.”

Obito smiles and then his brows pinch, opting for a jokey tone, “Wonder if that’s why we were Madara’s favorites.”

“Wait,” Sasuke gracelessly imposes, “He was—”

“Gay?” Obito snorts, “We told you of that Hashirama, right?”

“Fucking hell,” Sasuke laughs, “Were they ever—”

Obito’s smile is a little sad, “Nah, he got married to someone.” Sasuke frowns at that too. But Obito’s doesn’t want to ruminate over the past like that, he exclaims loudly, “Now I wonder if that’s why he liked Naruto _too_.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, “We were kids! He couldn’t have known.”  
  


“You sure? Maybe it’s just fate and the universe and Madara trying to pair you two up. He did give you that house knowing how much Naruto loves it.”

Sasuke reflects at that, and if that’s it then he’s got a million years of gratitude stored in him to give back to the universe, and his uncle, “Maybe. Maybe you’re right.”

Obito smiles ruffling his hair.

>>>>

Kiba, Suigetsu and Jūgo let out a unison groan. All three standing in a straight line fronting the perpetrator of their newfound misery, “I thought you got rid of them, Kiba!”

“I tried but he must’ve found them,” Kiba frowns.

Naruto points an accusing finger, “You! It was you three that got rid of my baby!”

Jūgo, the ever-pacifist, tries to diffuse the situation, “Don’t you think it’s about time you got rid of those, Naruto? They’re hardly a fashion statement.”

Sasuke gets up from behind them, he’d been undoing the seal of the paint cans, he watches the three men glower at Naruto’s choice of wardrobe; he’s dressed in washed-out overalls, the sky-blue denim bleached in some places, and paint stains in the other. A red bandana tied to hold back his hair. Sasuke can’t recall the last time he saw so much of Naruto’s forehead. Stupidly he’s a bit enchanted.

“We’re painting! This is what I always wear when I paint!”

“And we hate it please stop embarrassing us,” Suigetsu puts a hand on his hip, glances over his shoulder, “Tell him how ridiculous he looks Sasuke.”

Naruto’s eyes narrow at him menacingly, “Yeah, Sasuke, tell me.”

Sasuke averts his gaze, lifts the chiffon yellow paint and puts it in the center of the two parties, “I think. We should paint.”

Jūgo’s jaw slackens at the obvious dismissal, “Wow, we see how it is.”

“I’m simply removing myself from the situation,” Sasuke raises his hands to placate the men. “Nothing more.”

Suigetsu raises a brow and Kiba whines, “Naruto looking at you is hurting me!”

“This isn’t about you it’s about _my_ comfort,” he steps up, fingers dancing down Sasuke’s forearm, the raven is straight-faced throughout the entire thing though, “Anyway let’s get to work.”

Sasuke’s fixes the tracks of one of the doors, the other boys painting the room, Naruto moves his ladder closer to the entrance, moving the paint roller up and down the patch of wall. Everyone is engrossed in their work, he comments quietly as he approaches Naruto, “You look good in them.”

Naruto’s eyes immediately widen as he looks over to see if Kiba who’s nearest to him heard Sasuke’s compliment. Fortunately, he’s got earplugs as he sands the grooves at the bottom of the wall.

“Don’t worry he can’t hear me,” Sasuke reassures in a whisper, crowding closer to his boyfriend. “They complement the whole country boy thing you’ve got going on.”

“The city slicker is speaking,” Naruto rolls his eyes stepping down from the ladder.

Simpering, Sasuke pushes out his hand and playfully toys with the knot of the bandana wound above Naruto’s neck. Sasuke can tell it’s infuriating by how red the tip of Naruto’s ears get but he’s vying for attention and can be pretty shameless about it.

With the crew being at the house, it’s been difficult to find time alone together. Aside from the brief moments, they steal during the lunch hour, hiding away in one of the finished rooms kissing each other breathless, or the little time they get after everyone’s done for the night but by that point, Naruto’s bone tired and Sasuke doesn’t fare any better. Sasuke commends himself on having a lot of patience, a self-control that he’d applaud himself for, but each touch and the constant teasing between the two men never fails to rile him up. Could be the summer heat mounting each day, or simply the thrill of how new, how solid this thing seems, but he’s losing his mind a little.

Naruto treads back, his hands slinking lightly over Sasuke’s forearm, the blonde grins appreciating the way the raven shivers beneath his fingertips, “You’re going to get us in trouble.”

“My apologies,” Sasuke pulls away his hand and puts proper distance between them, smirking in a way he’s got Naruto’s eyes tracing his features.

Naruto flusters knocking into the paint can that spills onto the sheet that Kiba is leaning over, the man’s quacking booms over the concentrated quiet, “Oi! Naruto, watch it!”

“Oh, god, sorry! I wasn’t looking.”

“Man, you’ve been distracted all week, where’s your mind at?”

Naruto scratches his nose, “ne, I said I’m sorry, no?”

Sasuke tries to hold back a laugh, he’d feel more guilty if he wasn’t acting the same but there are fewer people around to keep an eye on his behavior as opposed to Naruto.

Soon they disappear to tend to other tasks, Naruto goes outside to fix the backdoor entrance of the house, and Jūgo asks Sasuke to get rid of the trash. He finds the blonde changing the screws around the hinges, the plate now fixed into the jamb. Sasuke sneaks up to him from behind, silent as a mouse, and crows, “Boo!”

Naruto falls back on his ass, “Sasuke, you asshole!”

He clutches around his stomach to hold back his laugh, but it comes out unabashed, Naruto stands up pouting and massaging his now hurt bum. Then he jumps him, pushes him into the wall, their feet stumbling over the toolbox, Sasuke’s back pressed into the smooth wood of the house.

Naruto doesn’t waste a single second leaning in and kissing him senseless, his hands still holding Sasuke’s wrists up, and June’s heat doesn’t stand a chance against the warmth Naruto burns through him. His mouth tastes sweet like the lemonade they had, his tongue feverish against his own and his lips soft. He assumed they’ll be chapped, that’s what he’d expected the first time too, but they had been anything but. A soft cushion against his own full lips. The stirring in his stomach warns to travel below his navel, he coaxes the other’s mouth open, his own tongue lapping at the welcomed taste.

“Naruto…?” Kiba’s familiar accent alerts them into stopping. Naruto draws back a meager centimeter from his mouth.

Sasuke watches the fear rise on the blonde’s face, a smear on the perfect features, but then there is a godsend messenger helping them out. Suigetsu calls back, “He went inside, I think. Bathroom!”

“Oh, alright. I’ll check.”

They both pull apart. Fixing their appearances Naruto grimaces, markings of a fading flush over his face, “Let me go first.” He goes through the door he’d been fixing.

“Sure.” Sasuke measures the time of his leave and follows only to stumble into Suigetsu leaning on the other side of the wall. He’s got a bottle of water in his hand. Right, Sasuke had asked him for one.

He takes it silently, it’s a waiting battle inside him. Should he ask?

“Just make sure to wait until the rest of the guys are gone,” he shrugs, standing up straighter. “People will start talking if they saw something.”

“How did you find out?” Sasuke uncaps the bottle.

He runs a hand through his white-hair, sharp teeth on display, “He talks about you non-stop. Can’t stop staring at you. He never gets distracted at work and here he is messing up more than multiple times. We grew up together I know the tell-tale signs of that idiot catching feelings.”

Sasuke licks his lips, and nods, “Take it you won’t tell anyone?”

“That’s not my business,” Suigetsu sighs, “Besides that’d be pretty hypocritical.”

His own eyes widen in alarm. The man tuts, “Don’t make that face we’ve all got secrets. Anyway, just be cautious. If word got out to the older townsfolk, they can make it pretty miserable around here.”

For some reason, Sasuke has to assert, “It’s not a fling.”

Suigetsu laughs easily, he claps Sasuke’s shoulder and pulls him into his side, “Of course, idiot. I can tell which does make me happy for both of you.”

Sasuke considers that a win.

>>>>

“I feel like I’m always extorting you for meals,” Sasuke puts down the dish on the table. Minato laughs heartily to give him a side hug.

“Don’t be silly you’re like my own son besides Naruto mentioned you love southern food, and my wife actually is from a seaport town. Learned a bunch of recipes from her.”

Minato cuts the braised fish drenched in dark rice wine and black vinegar in portions, plating up some for Sasuke along with vegetables he’s lightly sautéed on the side. “That said you do get the best meals out of me,” he smiles, it’s kinda reminiscent of his son.

Sasuke snaps the chopsticks apart, “I won’t apologize for that much.”

“Dad, I told you to wake me up around noon I had to meet up with—” Naruto’s in cotton pajamas, no shirt, hair spiked in different directions, fist rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “…Sasuke?”

“I found him at the market he was going to cook fish! So, I brought him along. Sit down I made enough for all of us,” Minato sets a plate down for Naruto.

Sasuke gets up to get the pitcher of water from the counter, Minato going to put away the used pan into the sink. Naruto uses the moment of reprieve to sneak a quick peck on his cheek.

Sasuke shoos him away which he pouts over, “You never make braised fish for me. I’m going to start thinking you like Sasuke more.”

Minato chuckles, “Tell me you want it next time I’ll make you some.”  
  


“Aw, dad,” Naruto wrings him into a hug in his chair. Sasuke shakes his head at the dramatics. “So, Sasuke, how’s the house coming along?”

“We’re nearing completion actually,” Sasuke bites down on the asparagus. “Everything is looking great.”

“Are you still planning on selling the place?”

Naruto pauses in his ministrations, Sasuke shrugs, “Not sure. I kinda like it so we’ll see.”

The blonde positively lights up, “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“What brought the change of mind?” The older man inquires.

“I guess I found reasons to keep it.”

Naruto corners him at the top of the staircase, Minato is in the living room watching a re-run of a variety show, “You didn’t tell me you’re keeping the house.”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Sasuke mumbles, their mouths hover each other’s, “Nothing set in stone.”

“Think some more,” Naruto’s fingertips glide up into his tied hair, massaging at his scalp, he bites down on his bottom lip, “Pretty please.”

Sasuke smiles wrapping arms around the broad shoulders, firm body pushing into him, chest to chest, “Of course you’d like that.”

“Very much, yeah.”

Naruto kisses him properly, fully and soundly. Sasuke comes up for air, “This is getting out of hand.”

“You’re the smart one, any ideas, genius?”

Sasuke applies pressure on Naruto’s bottom lip using his thumb, the other man reflexively parting his mouth open for him, “Stay the weekend at mine.”

The implications aren’t merely suggested they’re out in the open, “Oh?”

“If nothing else we can talk about it,” he swipes his thumb up to the curve of Naruto’s crooked smile, his own lips tugging along, “No rush.”

“No, yeah—I want to—” Naruto swallows, heat climbing his cheeks. “Do you want to?”

Sasuke places his mouth where his thumb was, hoarsely admitting, “You have no idea.”

Naruto’s grip around his waist tightens, “Friday then. I’ll come over, yeah.”

They kiss one last time before joining Naruto’s dad for a few more hours of telly.

>>>>

Sasuke steps out of the shower, pulls a clean white t-shirt and basketball shorts, he’s drying his hair when there is a knock on the front door. Mochi, his cat, lifts her head at the sound too. But decides it’s not worth the hassle to walk with him. That should’ve been the first sign of the disaster the night will be. But he’s excited and too caught up in his thoughts to take notice.

He opens the door, towel hanging around his neck, expecting his boyfriend. Instead, he’s greeted by Kiba’s stink breath, the brown-haired man cheerily sidling up to him in a casual hug, “Sasuke, my man, you didn’t tell us you were throwing a party?”

“What?”

Past the clingy man’s shoulder, he can see Naruto standing next to Suigetsu a sheepish frown on his face, but his friend patters on, “We saw Naruto buying liquor at the store. Y’all were going to get fucked up without us?”

“That was the plan,” Sasuke lowly mumbles.

Jūgo pushes Kiba inside and says, “We thought we could do a bonfire? Karin is getting the smores and graham crackers. We brought some wood.”

“And booze,” Kiba waggles his brow. “Oi, Naruto stop pouting because you got busted. Come on we’ll share your rum.”

The blonde steps in after the other two and Sasuke mouths _what happened?_

Naruto frowns _I’m sorry_.

Suigetsu closes the door behind, lingering alongside Sasuke’s who’s mood has plummeted like a ship sinking, “We saw him debating over what he wanted to get and then got to talking and here we are.”

Sasuke grimly turns to Suigetsu, “If I didn’t like you so much, I’d be throwing you out right now.”

“Aw, dude, I love you too,” he smacks a kiss on Sasuke’s cheek, “But tell me what’s got our stud all brooding?”

“You lot have sick timing. Couldn’t you have distracted your twin so Naruto could make a clean break?”

Suigetsu snorts, snaking an arm around his shoulder, “What did you guys have plans? A date?”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, “Something like that.”

The other man must pick up on what he’s putting down because he’s laughing into the back of his hand, “Shut up. This is too funny.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sasuke climbs up the steps after him entering the living room to Kiba ransacking his fridge for snacks, Naruto sitting on the couch with legs crossed, and Jūgo putting out the glasses they’d brought along, “This has to be a joke.”

Suigetsu leans into the shell of his ear, “We got vodka. Don’t worry Kiba will be done for in a few shots and the girls won’t stay for long either. I’d get everyone out before midnight.”

“I’m holding you to it.”

Once everyone has arrived and they’ve got a fire going outside, Sasuke slips back into the kitchen to get himself some water, Naruto crashes into him, nose burying in his shoulder, “Sorry.”

He’s got an arm wrapped around his waist, tugging him flush to his chest, twang slurred by the alcohol he’s been frivolously drinking. Sasuke angles his head so he can give him a wet kiss on the cheek, sucking around the chub of his cheek before pulling back, “It’s fine. We’ve got the whole weekend.”

Naruto smiles around his jaw, lips fluttering down the arch of his neck, “Promise?”

“Promise,” Sasuke breathes heavily. Naruto draws back after a smacking sound.

He notices the bottle loosely held in the blonde’s hand, “what’s that?”

Naruto holds it up in his face, dumbly smiling through the brownish gloss of the glass, “Rum.”

“Rum,” Sasuke repeats, brows pulling together.

“Thought it’d be romantic, y’know,” he waves a hand in the air like he’s swatting a fly, Sasuke bites on a laugh, “Since our first kiss—”

“Gross,” Sasuke wrinkles his nose, “That’s cheesy.”

“Well, that’s me. Now what?”

“I could be lactose intolerant,” Sasuke muses.

Naruto sets the bottle down on the counter and pushes him into the fridge, tipping his head up at an angle because they’re the same height save for the meager inch Sasuke’s got over the man, it makes for a fine difference when he gets to see the blonde’s brilliant eyes like this, “Are you saying I’m bad for you, Uchiha?”

“That’s a terrible line, Uzumaki,” Sasuke chuckles around his mouth, “But yes the doctor’s diagnosed you’re terrible for my health.” He’s not any better.

“Jog my memory why is that?” Naruto slants his mouth over Sasuke’s not quite touching but lingering to steal the puffs of breath from the raven, “Would love to remember.”

“Because—”

“Naruto!!” Karin’s voice hollers from behind the screen door, “What’s taking so long?”

They immediately let go of each other, Sasuke busying himself with chugging down the water he was getting. Naruto laughs at him as Karin enters the kitchen, she’s dressed in a cropped sweater and jean shorts.

“Water?” Mochi pads over to the redhead due to the shouting. She immediately picks her in her arms and coos.

Naruto points at the fridge uselessly, Karin says as much, “You’re an imbecile. Can’t do shit.”

“Sorry,” he doesn’t sound too sorry. Sasuke wipes his mouth clean and Karin looks up at him, absolutely unaware of what they were up to, “I started that book you told me about. It’s good I haven’t put it down since Monday. I should be done by the end of the weekend. Any other suggestions?”

Sasuke and her dive into discussing what they’re currently reading, he softly runs a hand over his cat.

Ever since he was young Sasuke was taught to count his blessings and he’s been pretty good about that. Suigetsu’s godsend he decides when he’s ushering everyone out of the enclosure to the entrance, handling two drunks by the arms, telling Jūgo to get the girls home, and leaving Sasuke and Naruto to themselves.

He’s got Karin tossed over his shoulder while she’s fighting to be let down, but Suigetsu salutes, “Alright, gents, we’re out.”

Karin howls frenziedly, “Wait, donkey-face, where’s Nart…Naruuuuutoooo!”

Naruto’s sobered up from earlier, intermittently drinking water throughout the night, he crouches down, hands on his knees and addresses his sister, “What’s up?”

“Naruuu, Nart, you better behave okay?” She pulls at his cheeks, “Sasuke’s letting you crash don’t give him a hard time he’s a good guy, okay?”

“Yes, mom,” He rolls his eyes. But fondly drops a kiss to her forehead, “Suigetsu is going to get you home.”

“Okaaaayyy,” she slurs and then points at Sasuke, “He’s a blanket hog so make sure you guys sleep with two!”

Sasuke’s blinks owlishly, “Uh, yeah.”

“Byeeee,” she croons and Naruto laughs at his drunken sisters’ antics.

Sasuke puts away the last of the drinks. Naruto’s pulling the shoji door open, it’s really nice out so letting in the breeze airs out the room.

“Hey,” they meet up halfway, Sasuke automatically going to circle his arms around the other man’s waist, he draws him close.

Naruto presses a quick peck to his mouth, it hardly lasts a second before the light in the room flickers and soon enough they turn off altogether.

“You’ve got be kidding,” Sasuke pulls back to look at the ceiling. The bulb out. He goes to the kitchen to turn on the switch but nothing. This night is a disaster.

“Might be the fuse, let me go check,” Naruto heads towards the basement door. Sasuke calls after him, “I’m gonna light up some candles.”

He’s setting down the last of the waxy torches when the other man comes back upstairs, he’s carding a hand through his hair irritation clear on his face, “The fuse is melted but I don’t have anything to fix it on me right now. I can drive to my place and get my tools—”

“Don’t bother,” Sasuke tosses the lighter on the table he’d set the candle on, “We can get to it tomorrow.”

Naruto nods understandably finally taking in his surroundings, he blinks slowly, once, twice, and then offers a coy smile, “This is…”

“Hrm?” Sasuke’s unfurling the futon again, open door lets a wash of pale moonlight inside from the veranda, the flickering tangerine flame from the candles mixes into the moody cool tones. “What?”

Naruto fidgets in his spot, rubs at his nose, “Kinda romantic?”  
  


Sasuke pauses in his movements. Oh. That wasn’t his intention. The switchboard is finicky, so it flips from time to time, he’d gotten a pack of candles the last time he was at the store just in case. Clearly, he’d been right because the darn thing has gone and blown a proper fuse again. He wasn’t trying to set the mood or anything, but if it did—Well, then.

He drags himself into a standing position, “That wasn’t on purpose.”

“I know you don’t seem like the candlelight type of guy,” Naruto shrugs.

Sasuke isn’t but his mind supplies _you make me want to be_ , his mouth runs away from him, “I could be if you’d like.”

Naruto guffaws at the response but the red swelling his cheeks tells him he appreciates the answer, “Are you saying that to get me naked? It’s not very convincing, y’know.”

Sasuke lifts a lazy shoulder, tilting his head to the side so his bangs sway with him, “I’m being sincere.”

“So, you don’t want to get me naked?” Naruto mock-pouts, tilting his head the other direction to Sasuke’s.

“I can’t win, can I?”

Naruto pads over to him loosely wringing his arms over Sasuke’s shoulder, laxly entwining his fingers at the back of his head, “With me? You’ve already won.”

"Have I?" Sasuke squeezes Naruto's ass, palms feeling the round cheeks, "I'll consider it a jackpot."

Naruto exhales a small sound, flustered at being felt up, "Oi!"

Sasuke grins which melts the other man. The blonde pushes his laced hands to propel Sasuke’s head to him, the raven’s heart tripping into a ditzy twirl, matching Naruto kiss for kiss. He can feel the satisfied smile of his lips pressed against Naruto’s; he feels the other man rile under his touch.

“How do you want to do this?” Sasuke kiss down his boyfriends’ neck, draws a patch of skin beneath his teeth and bites just hard enough to make Naruto gasp.

“I got stuff,” Naruto manages and Sasuke has to pull back to give him a quizzical look. He runs to the backpack he had on when he’d arrived and unzips, a plastic bag thrown carelessly onto the floor, “Oh, we never had that rum.  
  


Sasuke picks up the bag to inspect the contents, Naruto running to pluck the bottle from the counter, and bringing it over. The cork comes off with a pop and Sasuke opens the box of condoms.

Naruto gulps down a sip, face contorting at drinking straight from the mouth.

“Nervous?”

“Aren’t you?”

He proffers the bottle to Sasuke after another sip, but Sasuke shakes his head pinching Naruto’s jaw between his index and thumb, slick tongue licking into his mouth tasting the syrupy liquor. Naruto smacks into his mouth, his tongue seamlessly moving to the muscle of Sasuke’s. Satisfied that the other is equally as eager, clinging to the dregs of desperate yearning, Sasuke takes the bottle and puts it down on the table, blindly hoping it doesn’t fall to the floor and smash.

“You don’t need that to get me to kiss you,” Sasuke breathes behind the spine of Naruto’s ear, shivers licking down his bones, “I want you, Naruto, in whatever way you’ll let me have you.”

Firmly Naruto pulls him back to his mouth, pressing their foreheads together after a heavy exchange, “I want you too.”

“Okay,” Sasuke maneuvers him to the futon, he slips out of his shirt and then pushes down on his shorts.

Naruto follows suit. This is new for them both, they’ve kissed several times now, even heated at certain points, but curious hands have never wandered past waistlines. Sasuke takes a moment to fully let what’s happening sink in, Naruto finally stands in front of him in nothing but his boxers. It’s stupidly intimate how the flames perched around the room cast a honey glow over the other man, melting in his skin and warming what’s left of the cold in the room, in the house, in Sasuke’s heart. He touches Naruto’s jaw, cupping it tenderly, who nestles into his palm.

Carefully he presses his left hand to Naruto’s hipbone, guiding him to the futon, he settles between his boyfriend’s parted legs, kneeling so he can kiss the top of his cheeks, across his brows, the base of his throat, even skin of his eyelids.

He takes his hand and kisses the scar below his thumb, the one he noticed when they met for the very first time two-ish months ago. He, also, kisses the identical birthmarks on his face.

Wandering palms drag up Sasuke’s chest, spans his arms to kiss his back, blunt nails scratching up and down the skin, he sees it in Naruto’s imploring eyes how this isn’t typical for him nor is it for him. There is nothing soft about the hard edges of Naruto’s body, the taut planes of his chest and stomach, the tight spindle of his muscles. Sasuke loves feeling how they stretch, flex under his searing fingers, each tip lighting a personal inferno of lust and fervor down the blonde’s body.

Naruto falls back on the pillow taking Sasuke with him, his hand wounds into his hair searching for something until he hears a snap and his hair falls down in wavy strands framing his face, “I never said this before but I like when you keep your hair down.”

His hair isn’t long, a little above shoulder length, but long enough where he can tie it in a messy bun. He assumes if it was straighter it’d fall flat down to his shoulder but the waves towards the ends scrunch them up in a bouncy appearance.

“I’ll do it more often,” Sasuke likes how it alights a distinctive gleam in the cobalt eyes, one that’s specifically directed at him, “Any other requests?”

Naruto’s raking fingers through his hair, his own tickling over the bridge of Naruto’s nose, the velvet of his cupid’s bow. A tendril of breeze slips past the open door, gooseflesh dotting up Sasuke’s skin. It’s cold enough to prompt a quiet sneeze out of Naruto. He hides his face in the burrow of the pillow, and glances up sheepishly, “Sorry.”

It’s endearing, terribly, heartbreakingly—“You’re so lovable.”

“Love me then,” Naruto wiggles his brows mischievously.

His words linger for a few more seconds in the balmy air between them, they squeeze out an emollient, quiet laugh from Sasuke. The air is more tepid than full sound, a hankering confession to the other man. Easily cushioning on top of Naruto’s chin. Their faces were so close. Eyes tied in a bind, observing one another. Simply observing.

Sasuke adheres to the simple request, traces his mouth to the pleasantly smooth skin of Naruto’s chest, kisses the knots of his sternum until he’s licking the nubs of his nipples. The tentative swirl of his tongue trading for blunt edges of his teeth, teasing the area until the brown is swelling into deep shades of scarlet.

“ _oh_ ,” Naruto gasps softly, unabashedly under his ministration, it’s a wanton sound piercing the absolute tranquility of the night. The candles flickering the cadence of his breath and Sasuke’s mesmerized, he’s greedy in the exploration his fingertips demand, Naruto’s own hand coming to find purchase in his hair. It keeps his head steady, his other arm wrapping over the width of Sasuke’s shoulder.

Sasuke nibbles, sucks, bites the body which is shuddering under him in growing arousal. He moves back up to his neck, tasting sloppily the arch, Naruto brings the hill of his palm down to his abdomen, circling there before brazenly moving lower. The first sparks of desire course through him due to Naruto’s touch.

Sex never was about intimacy for him. He thought that’s how it worked—or maybe that’s how it worked for him. That didn’t ever sit with him because he preferred relationships to hookups. There was nothing for him in something that started with an ending. Dully he recalls the conversation about the universe working to put things together, people in the right places at the right time, and isn’t it a wonder he’s found his place. Here in Naruto’s arms.

Sasuke’s hands run down the surface of Naruto’s skin, it’s reminiscent of the lake they visited over two months ago, the same current flows here mapping down to his navel. He kisses there too.

“Can I take these off?” he keeps kissing, soothing, comforting reminders that he’s here.

Naruto nods, uncharacteristically quiet, it’s shared vulnerability. “Lift your hips,” he does as told, the cotton undergarment coming off in one quick slide. Sasuke settles between the gap of the open legs, every part of the other man exposed to him. Naruto turns his head into the pillow not meeting his eyes. He’s devastating, he’s taken it upon himself to unmoor the tightly kept emotions inside of Sasuke, to scratch him raw and open and to ask him to want unabashedly—he’s so gone it’s going to be hard to find a way back.

Sasuke hopes, wishes, yearns, he never has to.

“Hey, don’t look away now,” Sasuke stretches against his chest, their skin touching everywhere.

Naruto’s nose brushes his in a kiss when he turns to him, cheeks puffed up, “Then take yours off too.”

Sasuke smiles, a gridlock of emotions dazzling in his eyes, “You’re welcome to do it for me.”

So, the blonde does that. Sneaks past the elastic band to press a palm to his bare asscheek, fingers digging into the flesh there, pulling him closer just so he could feel Sasuke press against him harder. They both shudder at the friction building between their lower halves grazing each other. A rocky rhythm builds between them, Naruto pushing down the last clothing barrier between their bare skin which he quickly sheds out of.

Arousal prominent by both of their erections, they dryly rub against each other, mouths desperately, hotly slotting together. Naruto releases a guttural moan, Sasuke’s own little gasps permeating the growing heat in the previously lukewarm air, “ _s’sk_ , we should—or I won’t last—”

Sasuke imperceptibly nods into the spin of his tongue, “Give me a sec.”  
  


Naruto heatedly watches him get the condom and lube from the bag they’d tossed. Sasuke tosses the foil to his boyfriend and uncaps the tube, “This fine?”

“Yeah,” his eyes hooded, lids pulled down by pleasure, but it’s not enough to conceal the whirlpool in his eyes. Naruto always looked at him like this. Somewhere between soft and stormy.

Covering his hand in an exorbitant amount of the translucent, gooey product, he crawls forward, tapping Naruto’s knee in a silent request to pull them apart, he does so bending them around the knee. Carefully he approaches the entrance, dragging a finger down the skin there. Naruto flushes into a wrinkle of discomfort over his features, “If you don’t like it, let me know, alright? We can switch.”  
  


“No, go ahead, it just feels weird.”

“It’s supposed to feel good once you get used to the intrusion,” Sasuke explains, “That’s what I read.”

“You researched?” Naruto’s cutely lifting on the heels of his elbow.

Sasuke prods a tiny bit deeper, wiggling his index till it fully slides in, the blonde bites down on a painful yelp and he feels bad. “Yeah.”

“Can you kiss me?”

He blinks, slowly. But obliges anyway, eliminating the distance by the pressing his mouth to Naruto’s, he taps his arm as a signal to keep going, and breathes over it, “I forget everything else when you kiss me.”

Sasuke’s heart stutters. _Tell me all the ways to love you_ , he wonders openly.

He slowly thrusts his finger in and out, watching the slight, negligible pull of the skin against his finger, smooth, the ring of muscle accommodating for the intrusion. Naruto gets used to the feel, so he puts in another, dragging a particularly tense hiss out of him, he pauses immediately until he’s given the go. Eventually, the walls loosen around his fingers allowing him to scissor them open, he works them inside, curling them to receive _ah’s_ and _oh’s_ of budding pleasure from Naruto, who has taken the sole task of peppering kisses down the column of his throat. He massages the bundle of nerves to stimulate him.

The third one goes easier than the second, the blonde rocks down to his knuckle taking up his fingers, Sasuke crooking to loosen him properly. Once satisfied he pulls away, Naruto leans into his shoulder for support and Sasuke kisses his forehead. The blonde pulls the condom down on his length, covering it in lube, and Sasuke’s lines his erect cock to the entrance.

Slowly, carefully, he slides into the warm entrance, holding onto Naruto’s hips steadily, the hole stretching around his cock. Naruto careens forward at the clearly foreign intrusion and his fingernails dig into Sasuke’s bicep. He notices a tiny freckle on the inside of his thigh, Sasuke pulls up his leg over his shoulder kissing over it.

“You’ve got a mole here,” he kisses it again to pronounce the existence of the tiny blemish.

Beads of sweat gathering over Naruto’s brow, the hoarse rasp of his voice thick like molasses in Sasuke’s ears, “You’ve got one here.” He touches near Sasuke’s hipbones, thumb tamping down on it, “I like it.”

The heat in Sasuke’s stomach boils to unbearable, he kisses Naruto, “Paying attention to me?”

“Haven’t I said—” his breath hitches when Sasuke moves them to a more comfortable angle, “I’ve only got eyes for you.”

“You have,” Sasuke smiles into his skin, crookedly confessing, “It’s nice to hear once more.”

Naruto’s snaking an arm around his shoulder, the tips of their noses touching, “Sasuke Uchiha, do you not realize I’m irrevocably in love with you?”

Sasuke’s eyes widen, jaw slacking at the confession, but Naruto’s boundless in his downpour of affections, “You’re the love of my life, Sasuke.”

He laughs into the junction between Naruto’s neck and shoulders, the slow pace of his hips building their looming climax, he cups around Naruto’s ass pushing himself deeper, “I’m going mad.”

“That’s two of us then.” He moans around the words.

Sasuke wraps his clean hand around the head of Naruto’s cock to give him quick tugs, to bring him closer to his orgasm as he is to his, but the feel is too dry. He peers through his lashes up at Naruto, “Open your mouth for me.”  
  


Obscene how Naruto’s already debauched mouth parts, Sasuke lolls his fingers over the gritty muscle of Naruto’s tongue. Impulsively, the blonde is closing his mouth around them, gums watering and saliva lapping across the length of his fingers. Naruto sucks on them wetly, warmly nibbling. Sasuke draws back to hold up his palm that Naruto licks up a stripe. Sasuke brings it down to his boyfriend’s cock and builds a tempo.

Hips thrusting at a steady pace they both climb to their orgasm. The furor of passion crackles between them. Naruto comes apart in his hands, the semen spurting on his abdomen and he follows after still inside Naruto.

Exhausted they both fall on their backs. Chests heaving up and down, sweat shining down their skin. Sasuke’s got stars in his eyes, the ceiling a hazy blur, he says it back because the other man deserves to hear it out loud, just as daringly, “I love you.”

“I know,” Naruto sounds so sure. He urges Sasuke to turn so he’s half lying on top of Naruto. Strong fingers push back his hair, cupping him above the bend of his ear, he gives him a close-mouthed balmy kiss, “I’ve known.”

“Let me say it out loud anyway,” he persists.

Naruto’s laugh, sweet, sugar in sherbet. “You do all the time.”

Sasuke doesn’t understand but Naruto’s gaze cottons a softness over him, imprinting a tenderness inside of him, “You’re saying it right now.”

He gets it now. _You say it when you look at me._ Or simply, _you look at me as you’re in love with me_. Naruto isn’t wrong.

They fall asleep to the sound of summer cicadas, the flickering flames of the candles burning out and the echo of their matching heartbeats.

>>>>

The rest of the weekend is lazy bones, tired sighs, and exploratory touches, mapping each other’s skin square by square, patch by patch. A jolt of warmth searing from Naruto’s mouth inside his thigh, the skin there. Wet mouth moving down the scar on his knee. Morning hasn’t fully thawed to the idea of waking up, but the other man has taken the slip in time, the solitary hours where daybreak kisses the night one last time, fervently, desperately, to mirror the same urgency into Sasuke’s skin.

Sasuke licks around consonants that suffer at his own inability to speak, to form sentences. An amorous smile welcomes him. Pulling back from his mouth, a thread of saliva connecting them. Naruto bears the weight of his hips to lift him, he moves them until Sasuke’s spine heeds to the bend, calloused hands kneading his ass, his slow lazy grinds onto Naruto’s cock sending blitzing sensations of pleasure.

Everything about this was gratuitous, the touching, the murmur in their chests, the open wealth of tangerine light melting into the last of the leftover plum, the earth silently yielding to them. As if to stretch these private moments so only they can witness them. Nothing moved except them. Slow, careful, sublime in their nature.

Naruto tugged on his hair, other fingers dancing along his cleft, he catatonically reacted to the movement.

Later when they are spent and the sun shining high, Sasuke cradles the warmth swimming between them close to his chest. Naruto’s spread on his back, he’s kissing him soundlessly not expecting anything else, just because he can.

Sasuke balances his chin on his forearm, the corresponding hand holding up his book. Naruto mumbles into his ear, voice scratched raw, “You should read to me.”

His own baritone deepened after their earlier activities, he lightly chuckles, “You’d be lost over the plot.”

“I don’t care I just like the sound of your voice,” Naruto skates a hand up his side. “It’s sexy.”

Sasuke cranes back to ask for a kiss, Naruto obliges, which turns into pressed smiles, “Don’t yell at me when you can’t keep up.”

Naruto preens in victory.

>>>>

Nothing should’ve changed, except it doesn’t work like that. Not after the confessions imprinted into every fiber of his being. There is an insanity in how grandiose the shift inside him feels. It’s unfamiliar, entirely unprecedented for him. What’s built between them is spun in dreams of gold.

Concurrently, the frequency of Naruto’s stolen glances discernibly increases, the back of Sasuke’s neck warms knowing he’s being looked at. They’re into the last touches around the house. Suigetsu is helping fix the broken bulbs, they fixed the circuit breaker once and for all, and Kiba’s handing him the screw. Jūgo’s doing a readthrough of their original plans and addressing Sasuke.

“Naruto!” Kiba hollers, the weight on Sasuke lessens. He smiles. “Pass me the box over there. This size doesn’t fit.”

Naruto pads over soundlessly, shoulder lightly grazing his own, and Sasuke’s fingers twitch to do something, to turn around and kiss the other man senseless. Uncaring who’d see, the whole world watching.

He doesn’t.

Afterward, he helps the guys load their trucks with tools and gear, Naruto’s in the driver seat so Sasuke drops the box in Suigetsu’s care and ambles to the blonde. He’s on his phone but immediately glances up as if he knew Sasuke was coming.

“I was thinking we can do a dinner at mine. Kind of to mark the end of everything. The whole crew can come, and we can have whatever you guys want,” Sasuke suggests.

Naruto beams at the idea, “We should invite Obito and Kakashi too.”

“Your dad as well,” Sasuke inputs.

“Oh, true. Probably a barbeque? That’s easier with that many people. You already know how much the guys can eat.”

“Are you accounting for your own vacuum stomach?”

Naruto pouts, “You’re just jealous you can’t down 6 hot dogs in 5 minutes.”

“That’s because hot dogs are gross, Naruto,” Sasuke pointedly counter before slipping into a smug lift of his shoulder, eyes drifting down from Naruto’s face, “But I can be convinced in other ways.”

Naruto pushes him through the open window of his front seat, laughing from his throat, “Fuck off!”

Sasuke grins pursing his mouth, cranes his neck to the side to see if anyone is paying attention to them, and quickly leans into the gap and steals a kiss. Naruto’s lips make a smacking sound when he pulls back, “No fair.”

“Come over later I’ll make it fair,” Sasuke sees Naruto’s eyes darken at the proposition.

Instead, he taps his fingers on the steering to ask, “Or you can come to my apartment. I’ve got a real bed and all.”

“What the futon hurting your back old man?”

“You’re a bastard.”

“Hrm, maybe, but you’re still into me. What does that say about you?”

“As you say, I’m an idiot so no helping there.”

Sasuke’s mouth stretches earnestly, “Truly.”

>>>>

There should be a warning tag on life events. On experiences, because it would save a lot of people a lot of heartache. That’s not how life works though. Eventually will become actually and then you’re left wondering where it all went wrong. How did it come to this? But that’s the funny thing when you step back, view it in hindsight, everything is a stepping stone to where you are. You don’t just end up at certain places, at certain times, those little pieces of your life fuse together until they’ve created a clear-cut path to your destination.

Sasuke wishes he could hit rewind like he did as a child on that dusty DVR in his brother’s room, to hear the main sequence in Tarzan once again. He’s not a child anymore, he hasn’t been for a very long time.

He changes out of the shirt Kiba accidentally spilled ketchup on, he was drunk as were most of them, but the condiment was sticky and Sasuke didn’t want a stain on the white button-up. Naruto is a magnet to his steps, stumbling into the room after him, pressing him to the recently painted walls to steal a kiss, or two, or more. It didn’t matter because Sasuke wants to be kissed, he was happy, he felt he’d found his place.

The descend isn’t fast nor turbulent, it’s slow and goes grain by grain similar to the sand buried beneath the ocean water, its voices sinking in his ear grittily, uncomfortable to the point of painful. Karin shouts, proper throat rubbing raw shout, Naruto jumps from him in a daze, his knee hitting the bed, he doesn’t even wince in pain, face drained of all color.

“Naruto?” She enunciates clearly, not shouting but angry. Sasuke can see her ferocious red present in more than her hair, brows, eyes. “What the fuck is happening here?”

Naruto is a fish out of water, mouth parched open collecting words that don’t come out. Sasuke is still not out of fear for himself or fear of what will be thought of him, but it’s the anguish he sees on the man he loves.

“Karin—” He tries to start, but Naruto pins him down. Stormy eyes determined and rooted in a decision. He turns back to his sister who has stepped into the room, “I was drunk—I was kidding around and—”

“You’re lying,” Karin cuts him off. She knows him better than the back of her hand, her life is stitched to Naruto’s unlike any other person, “I’m your sister, you know I know when you lie, so lord help me and I’m asking this again. What on earth is going on here?”

The no-nonsense tone she adopts is a clear indication of her not wanting any more deceit on their part. Sasuke gets that and puts together a list of things to say because measured words are better than rash confessions, and Naruto who he loves for that quality too, speaks before he’s pushed the tip of his tongue past the bridge of his teeth.

“He didn’t do anything. I fell in love,” Naruto doesn’t have an ounce of defeat, he’s steady and confident, he could be looking straight at the sun and answering the same questions and still wouldn’t hesitate.

It’s simple for him: he loves Sasuke.

It’s even simpler for him.

Sasuke takes his hand, tangles their fingers together in a solid grip and somewhere two mountain peaks distantly look at each other in hello’s and hi’s, in a dormant desire they’ve forever known, “I fell in love, too.”

Karin’s face crumbles, she’s pretty he’s always thought that but her face lodges the bile from his gut to his throat, she speaks in disdain, “And when you two were doing all that falling did you fucking think of the consequences?”

Naruto’s brows flatten, the look is foreign to Sasuke it’s because he, for the first time, realizes its unfiltered anger and he’s never been on the end of it. “Why did you think we didn’t tell anyone—”  
  


She laughs, it’s hollow, “You always do this. You dive into things and leave me to clean the messes. Did you ever think about how this will affect you—”

“Yes, Karin!”

“Did you think how it will affect Dad and me? How—” She stops to glare at Sasuke, “Did you have your fun? If a one-off fling is all you wanted, I’m sure there are plenty of mouths in the city for you to—”  
  


“Karin!” Naruto yells, but Sasuke pulls him back. “It’s fine. She’s upset.”

He turns to him, wide-blue eyes, fond and soft, “She can’t talk to you like that.”  
  
Sasuke releases a sigh, “I am telling you this isn’t about curiosity for us.”

“Naruto,” emotion choking the vowels of her speech affects him too even if she’s not his sister, and right now probably not his friend either, “This is wrong. Everything about this. You’re just going to put us all on the line for a whim.”

Naruto’s face closes off, she gets angry again, “You want what out of this? A future? You want your life to be like Obito and Kakashi’s? Head down and mouth shut. He had the privilege to not be raised by the whole town you, on the other hand, are known by every door that’s open. So, tell me, how are you going to face that?”

“As I do everything else,” Naruto doesn’t stutter.

“And dad?”

There is quiet. She offers, “Let him go and come home with me.”

Sasuke can’t step in here because this is more than just admitting their relationship, this is Naruto’s life and his people. She demands, voice rising again, in the background he hears footsteps down the hallway, there are people still outside, “Let him _go_.”

Sasuke realizes she’s asking him. Suigetsu enters the room, owlish eyes absorbing the scene and comes to touch Karin’s elbow when she yells at Sasuke once again.

“Hey, calm down,” She sneers at him, disgusted by his presence, “You fucking knew, didn’t you. That’s why he’s been staying here all those nights instead of Dad’s or his apartment. You knew, didn’t you, piece of shit?” She punches him in the shoulder which he takes, holding her small fists in by the mouth of his palm.

He pulls her to his chest, she’s crying now, and Sasuke feels Naruto’s hold loosen around him. It’s slow, the descent into what it’ll come to be, it’s the first step Naruto takes away from him, and Sasuke doesn’t see it without the haze cottoned over it quite yet. But this is where it starts.

“Go,” he says, heart on his tongue.

Naruto looks at him, finally tired. He nods.

>>>>

Everyone leaves shortly after. No one gets a whiff of what had occurred in the four walls of Madara’s old room. Each inch fraught with memories, Sasuke thought they belonged in the past but now they’re of the present too. The house suffocates around him once again.

He doesn’t sleep that night.

>>>>

Karin gets in the car with a slam of the door. Sasuke proffers the brown bag of breakfast tacos he’d gotten her from the cart she likes. He knows these things because over the past three months it wasn’t just Naruto he learned about.

She leaves it on the center console. Not even bothering to check to see what it is.

“Food since it’s your lunch hour,” he explains.

Karin’s scrubs are royal blue and they perfectly contrast her threaded brows, vibrant hair tied in a ponytail, glasses perched on her nose. “I’m not here to apologize.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Glad we’re clear about that,” she doesn’t fidget, or think twice before choosing words like knives, she doesn’t possess her brother’s innate kindness. It’s there through, sunken into the hard exterior she’s carefully put around her. Sasuke could relate to that because he’s spent a lot of time doing the same.

Long-suffering sigh escaping her lips, she cuts straight to the point, “What are you doing, Sasuke?”

“I’m in—”  
  


“I heard that bit, but what are _you_ doing? Where’s your job? Your family? Your friends?”

Sasuke blinks at the barrage of questions, “Not here.”

“Then what the fuck are you doing.”

“It’s not that simple.”

She mock-laughs, voice bellowing the same rasp that the entire family seems to carry, “Oh, but it is.” Turning in her seat she lays it out for him, “So, here’s how it’s gonna go. You have only two options. You leave behind your old life and come settle down in Konoha. That house of Madara’s got enough rooms for my brother to shack up with you, huh? Sounds like a dream, right?”

“Stop patronizing me and get to the point,” Sasuke’s patience wearing thin. “I’m not here for riddles, I’m trying to get you to understand.”

“But you’re the one who isn’t? You’re going to do all that. Cut your losses from back home to make a life here and then what? In a few years when things aren’t so rose-colored, you’re going to resent him for asking this of you. And all that love you two keep harping about won’t do you good when there is festering bitterness.”

You could be so close to someone, love someone with your whole damn heart, cherish them so you think you’re making the right choices for them. And yet, not know them at all.

“It could work.”

“Moving out here, uprooting your entire life, for a guy? Everyone you love so far; you could live with that? You, for whom family is above all, could do that? And if you did, you’d only hate him for making you.”

Sasuke knows better because he knows himself better than he knows anyone else. He’d never resent Naruto. And since Naruto’s part of whatever soul he’s made of, he knows Naruto wouldn’t ever ask so in the first place.

So, she’s wrong.

Besides what she doesn’t know is for him family isn’t just the one that he’s born into, but what you choose too. And Sasuke’s been choosing Naruto, his friends, that house over and over and over.

She holds up her second finger, “Second option: You leave him. And destroy him. Because he’s the dumbest person I know, and he’s decided he’s going to love you. And goddamn it Sasuke he’s going to love you until the end. So, you’re going to leave and take a piece of who he is with you.”

She’s right this time.

“The point is,” she sighs, wearier than she’s ever looked, older than she is, and Sasuke finally sees how she’s older than him too, “You’re going to hurt him either way.”

“I don’t know how to resent him.”

“Not yet anyway.”

Sasuke gives a balmy smile, “You don’t understand, Karin. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

She does stagger at that, “Maybe not him, but you’ll hate this place and where you are and what your life has come to. The people aren’t always so kind. You’ve heard the stories. You know how it goes. You want to be part of that? For all this love to amount to that?”

“I’ve heard it’s worth it,” he wagers for a brighter smile.

Dimly she smiles too, “He…He’s my baby brother.”

“You were cruel to him.”

“I know,” she speaks with infractions of guilt. “You don’t know this yet, but life isn’t supposed to be like, it’s not supposed to be this hard. Let go while there is still something to salvage.”

He agrees that much. It’s not hard. Loving Naruto never was. It’s everyone else bent on making it as such.

She does take the brown paper bag as she opens the door, then reaches to him with an arm to pull him close, “I feel like I’m the villain of your love story.”

Sasuke drops a kiss to the crown of her head, “Wouldn’t give you that much credit. Just your average protective sibling.”

Her smile is watery this time. “Thanks for the food.”

“My pleasure.”

Sasuke drives into the yard. The house stands motionless no longer gaunt and creaky. Folding arms over his steering wheel he thinks. Coming back to Konoha wasn’t of his own volition, it was spurred by his Uncle’s will and this home that has heard the sounds of his very first steps. Madara used to believe in the stars, and destiny, and how people are tied to each other no matter how much they run away from it. You can’t run away from something that binds you together.

He decides to believe one last time.

>>>>

Minato opens the door as he’d expected. He smiles just as warmly as he had the first night behind the pane of his window, rolling thunders over their heads, and welcomes him.

Sasuke stays in his place, “It’s short, I was hoping to see you.”

“Not Naruto?” Sasuke’s heart is a dirty traitor that can’t be trained to sit at the sound of that name. The man can tell, “It’s just, I take it, you’re the reason my sons’ been so quiet recently.”

“I’m sorry for that,” he apologizes, and some more, “And I’m sorry if it stays like that for a bit.”

Minato nods leaning against the open door, “Do you love him?”

Sasuke isn’t surprised he knows, “Yes.”

“Then I’m not worried,” his smile is so genuine, it swells a bubble of hope in him, “My daughter thinks she needs to protect us from the world. Her mother was like that. She doesn’t realize Naruto’s been doing a pretty good job on his own all this time.”

Sasuke nods. “Are you okay with all this?”

“Who he loves isn’t for any of us to decide,” Minato smiles like he knows, “But if someone hurts him, even if it’s someone who loves him, then I will have problems.”

“It hasn’t been me yet,” Sasuke cheekily clarifies.

Minato does laugh at that, “The yet isn’t pleasant to hear, Sasuke.”  
  


“I need time,” he explains, and extends the beaten copy of his book, sealed envelope poking out of it, to the man, “And a favor.”

Minato takes the book from him, “I’ll pass it on.”

Sasuke only has two bags. Two pairs of shoes he’d brought along with a pair of slippers. He’s folding the last of his shirts when he sees the empty rum bottle. It’s on the kitchen counter. They’d finished it over the weekend, drunken kisses ensued after leaving him sated until the early hours of the morning. He washes it with soap and carefully stows it into one of the cabinets. Then he locks the doors and picks up Mochi’s carrier.

Packing everything in the car, securing the kitten in the backseat, he gets behind the wheel.

With one last glance at the house, it fills his chest with air.

The drive is uneventful for a few miles until he’s approaching the exit sign to the highway. There is a terribly familiar truck parked right in the center. Sasuke should’ve expected this, but he can’t help the smile the sight brings to his face.

He turns off the engine, no one is going to be passing through at this hour, it’s damn early and too damn quiet.

“You found me,” Sasuke shuts the door lightly.

Naruto leans away from the truck, his eyes bloodshot red, “A letter.”

“It was supposed to be romantic,” he shrugs nonchalantly. Naruto crosses the distance in untampered rage and pulls at his collar, he doesn’t punch him or butt their heads. He just dissolves into a teethy, rough, kiss.

He shakes with every exhale, “You’re leaving me.”

Sasuke cradles the side of his head and draws back to proper look at this face one more time, other hand steady on his waist, “You’re the love of my life.”

“Then don’t go,” Naruto’s voice cracks, it cuts around his own heart, “ _please_.”

“Did you read it?”

He nods, stubbornly persisting, “I don’t care about any of that. I want you.”

“You love your family as I love my mine,” he speaks for both of them because this much he can do, “You’d never do anything to hurt them.”

“How is it fair that we get hurt trying to worry about everyone else?”

“It isn’t,” Sasuke lets them commiserate in their rotten luck, “It’s the worst hand of cards.”

“Obito makes it work it’s tough, but it can—”

“Yeah, I know.”

“But you’re still going to leave? So, what do I do now?”

“You could,” Sasuke doesn’t notice his own thick lilting words, “Have a wife, some kids, the picket fence. The dream.”

Naruto laughs, it’s not hollow, it’s fond and dripping in fervor, “ _You’re_ the dream.”

“I know,” Sasuke looks at him, eyes waning into canescent moons. He's never had a shroud of doubt about their love, not when it was barely a seed planted in his chest, not now when it's a violent act against those around them—so what if it's not accepted for what it is? He'll fight for it, allow it to be defiant. Because as he's thought before and he's thinking again, Naruto makes him feel indestructible. 

Naruto's eyes speak of the same fearlessness, “Stop giving me that look.”

“Hrm?”

“That look.”

“What look?”

Naruto’s eyes meet his, cobalt of the storm and the greys of charcoal, “That look. Our look.”

“We have a look.”

“We do.”

“I’ll miss our look,” Sasuke confesses with a tilt of his head, indulging himself.

Naruto’s voice falters, “Sasuke…”

He steps more into Naruto’s arms, the slight breeze kisses his open hair, the smile Naruto fights against tells him it was a good idea to not tie it in a bun, “Tell me this, when I’m old and grey, fighting my batty lungs would you still love me?”

Naruto cackles against his mouth, Sasuke tastes salty tears, “I’ll love you even when you’re all loony and forget where you put your glasses.” It's an answer to what he asked, in the letter, what he's been asking standing here in Naruto's arms. 

“Then there isn’t anything to worry now is there?”

The sun grants him one proper smile, bright and mesmerizing, before burrowing in the nook of his shoulder and neck, hugs him with the life in him. Sasuke squeezes back just as tightly.

“Don’t forget me.” He cries finally.

Sasuke laughs despite the tear tracks, “Stupid, stupid, stupid, Naruto.”

“Bastard, don’t you dare,” it’s pressed next to his pulse. It’s one of the same. His own existence and Naruto’s.

Naruto waves at him with watery eyes and his signature smile. Sasuke pulls onto the highway leaving his heart behind.


	5. v.

three years later.

Mochi meows from behind the bars of her carrier. Sasuke coos at her, “We’re here, baby, don’t worry.”

He pulls into the driveway, getting his cat first then the worn holdall from the back, hitching it over his shoulder and fixing the hood of his rain jacket. For some reason, mother nature is dark and twisty like that, she likes playing games. Too bad for her, Sasuke’s not one to lose.

He keys the door, fiddling it open, and steps on the welcome mat. He puts the carrier on top of the table in the genkan, undoing the latch so the cat can spring onto the floorboards, stretching her spine out. He sheds out of the wet jacket and puts it on the hook, climbing up the uneven steps and flicking the lights along the way.

The opening room takes a muted second to warm up, yellowish light illuminating the room and helping him navigate to the kitchen. Sasuke drops his bag on the way. He turns the lights on in there too. Puts a kettle on but leaves the stove unlit. Then back to the main room and shimmies out of his jeans and sweater. It’s February and it’s _still_ raining. The universe thinks it’s funny.

He spreads the futon and decides to nap. It’s still fairly early in the day. Mochi quietly curls next to him, cuddling into his forehead before letting the talons of sleep drag her too.

Pavlov would be proud of him when he comes to a tick tick sound on the front door. He smiles into his pillow peeling his eyes open before getting up on his feet. Grabbing a pullover, he treads to the door, he’d run but the drive took a lot out of him.

“Pebbles,” he says pushing the door open, the sun greets him just as effervescent as he remembers. “All this time it was pebbles.”

Naruto has one hand in the air, one wrapped around Kurama’s leash, he puts it down limply to his side, “There’s a bunch near the door.”  
  


“Huh,” Sasuke smiles. “Pebbles and if not then a rock.”

“Next best option, yeah.”

“Well, we’ve got to stop meeting like this then, I could get a bell installed,” Sasuke suggests.

Naruto shrugs indolently, a grin pulling the edge of his lips up, “Why bother? This method is just as effective.”

“At what exactly?”

“Getting your attention.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Naruto’s boots dig into the packed dirt, loose jeans and flannel on, he uses his hand as a visor to block the bright sun, fucking winter and the sun is still out like the shameless beast it is, “Was walking Kurama and saw the car. I figured I’d come and see.”

“You’ve made a habit to come all the way out here just for a walk?”

“Once a week, yeah. Keep an eye on the house, y’know. There have been robberies.”

“Have there?”

“Yeah, can’t trust people breaking in and squatting either.”

“Then it’s good you’re keeping lookout,” Sasuke smiles fully.

Naruto smiles back. His own heart races. “How long this time?”

“I was thinking a while, sold my apartment and switched positions at my company. My mom is looking for real estate around here and my friends are only a town over, a couple of hours by drive.”

Kurama yips as Sasuke steps down a bit, Naruto unfastens the leash from his hand allowing the dog to bound over to Sasuke. He licks at his hands and nuzzles into his palm.

“What about you?” he looks up.

Naruto wrinkles his nose, scratching at those full cheeks, “Oh you know. Tried to find a girl.”

Sasuke’s heart dives. Naruto continues knowing, “She didn’t like the crust of my sandwiches.”

“No?” he bites on his bottom lip, hands buried in the wealth of Kurama’s fur.

Naruto shakes his head, pouting and wholly disappointed, “Nah, she didn’t even read nor drank tea. I’ve so many imported kinds, y’know? Wasting away because no one will give it a go.”

“You know, I love myself a warm mug.” Sasuke stands now, the dog is left to his own devices. “Heard business is doing good? Those apartment complexes in Suna were signed to you before we could even get the word.”

“Oh!” Naruto sheepishly admits, “The guy working for the city we touched base and he helped me get the gig.” He asks, “What are you going to do about your job?’

Sasuke explains, “I don’t need to be present on site. It’s something that can be done from home and monthly visits.”

“Good, good,” Naruto says thoughtfully, “Anything else?”

“There’s this guy,” Sasuke starts, diminishing the distance between them.

Naruto takes to it easily, smiling almost, “A guy. What about him?”

“Do you want the long, sordid version, or the short version, where I come back and steal him away for myself?”

There’s the look, their look. Naruto grins cheek to cheek, “Now why would you do that?”

“Because he’s the love of my life.” _Because I choose you_ , goes unsaid.

Naruto muses, “Even if he’s not old and grey.”

“No, I’m planning to get to that part together,” Sasuke states.

Heart on his sleeve, eyes akin to summer storms, the sun graces him warmly once again, choosing him on purpose again, and again, and again, “Crusty sandwiches and all.”

Sasuke laughs at that, “With warm tea and lots of rum.”

“He’s a lucky, lucky guy,” Naruto slots his mouth to Sasuke’s. The earth begins to move, and the compass wedged in his chest points home. Sasuke pours love into Naruto’s soft embrace, harvesting the flames the blonde was igniting through each open-mouthed kiss. He admits honestly to the open sky, “No that’d be me.”

“Tell me why.”

Sasuke stands at the footstep of the house built on memories, in the past it belonged to so many, to those people’s stories, now though, it’s theirs. Just theirs.

“Because now I get to love him, properly.”

fin.

_[I won’t say dear because that’s not us. I’d call you stupid but you’re probably already pouting. So listen carefully, or read carefully I suppose._

_Your sister isn’t wrong. She isn’t right either. There is a lot at stake. That said I think what’s waiting on the other side is worth the uphill battle, don’t you think? I told you I’m not the candle lights guy. I’m not the love letter guy either. Lived to prove myself wrong._

_I love you, I’ll always love you and no one can change that. Not the town, not the hurdles, not anything else. But loving you, I would like to do it properly. (I’m sure Karin gave you the same wrought speech about this ending two ways). So give me the chance to prove that there is a third option. The one where I come back to you. Where that house you love so much, the one you ran to find comfort in, becomes a part of the future. Our future, Naruto. You called me the love of your life. Do you know what that means? Every part of this universe has pulled its weight to bring us together._

_Now trust me over the rest. We gotta win the war, losing one battle should be fine. What say?_

_Only yours, always yours, from now till forever and more,_

_Sasuke.]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quotes borrowed:
> 
> 1) Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same -- Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights.
> 
> 2) He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” -- Leo Tolstoy, ANNA KARENINA
> 
> kudos and comments, plz.


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